No trips this week, just life in Alicante, with the usual visit to our Sunday neighbourhood market but also a visit to Alicante’s large Mercado Central, and some fun at the office.
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As usual, I started Sunday with a bike ride; I was early this morning, and the moon was still visible over Busot:
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After the bike ride, I was again at our local market to buy a few things for lunch, and of course to take some pictures. Here, a man shopping with his friend:
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Cheap rags:
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Tubers:
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Candy:
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The olives and pickles stand, with a porrón with vermuth:
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Our agency is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, and there have been numerous events. One of them took place on Monday the 18th, taking advantage of the presence of our governing body members, in town for their semi-annual meeting later in the week. There were some speeches, as one might expect, but the highlight was a concert by the local symphony orchestra, culminating with Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, the EU’s unofficial anthem:
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The meeting of the management board of the agency took place in the usual large circular room. Besides the representatives of the Member States, the European Commission and the EU Parliament who form the governing body, there were also various observers, including our Staff Committee, represented by my friend and fellow photographer Christophe:
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There is a piano in the atrium of our office, and I see it in use quite often. This woman was quite good:
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The weather was not great, but in the middle of the day it was still OK to be on the outside terrace (of course, the smokers have no choice):
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Then Friday arrived. We always have a drink in my department on the last Friday of the month; but because several of us will be attending meetings in Brussels during the last week of November, we decided to move up our little feast by a week:
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And it was an excellent edition of the event; many people came, and everyone brought something good. No need to have lunch that day:
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Our seconded national expert from Greece, Eri, could not make it, but she was nice enough to leave us some Greek sweets:
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As usual, I focused on my colleagues and their interaction. Juan smiles at Nicki:
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Nestor and Anne-Sophie, my fellow Dane (she is actually half-French, half-Danish):
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Massimo, Kasia (our Polish secretary), Evangelia and Alexandra:
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Massimo and Stephanie:
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Blanca and Stephanie:
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Stephanie and Nicki:
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On Saturday, my wife and I went to Alicante’s Mercado Central to buy some small pumpkins and other vegetables for the upcoming Thanksgiving dinner (we always put this on for our Spanish friends who find the food interesting and exotic). While my wife was looking for the pumpkins, I prowled the stands with my camera; I find the fish section particularly interesting:
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The fruit and veg stands offer a potpourri of shapes and colours:
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Some of the adverts are quite funny:
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Some vendors decorate their stands:
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Snake oil next to the real stuff:
