A week during which I worked and cycled as usual. But also a walk in the centre, a beer at my favourite bar there, and another visit to the Vía Verde, the abandoned railroad converted to gravel path.
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A grab shot while driving around. I loved the paint job on this van, especially since my son in New Jersey has recently adopted a black cat:
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Two more grab shots, this time from my garden. An unidentified flower growing in the neighbour’s garden, but the blossom is on our side:
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My magic cactus is still at it from time to time:
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While walking around the centre of Alicante one afternoon, it occurred to me that there are many interesting signs around, and I decided to start photographing those signs more systematically, especially because some of these businesses may not survive the current crisis. A hair stylist:
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Old-school optician sign:
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Cultures blend:
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A cheap hostel:
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My favourite bar in Alicante:
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At this point in my walk, I could not help noticing a vacant table outside Malatesta, so I sat down; the blackboard explains why I like this place:
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Malatesta is the only place outside Belgium (that I know) where I can get Tripel Carmeliet, one of the world’s truly great beers, on draught:
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The outside tables at Malatesta are not in the most attractive location (just a sidewalk on a busy street), but the urban fauna provides some entertainment:
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On the way back to my car, another sign of the times, outside an ice cream place:
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Then some cycling pictures. This tree stump outside Aigües has been painted blue by the artistic types on the main street, whose work I have shown in previous weeks:
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On Saturday I took my mountain bike and headed for the Vía Verde del Maigmó, an abandoned narrow-gauge railroad now converted into a wonderful 22 km gravel track for cycling and hiking. To get there, I go on paved roads, but also a few km on this field path:
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At the start of the Vía Verde there are large vineyards:
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The bags are to protect the grapes from insects and birds. According to a friend in the business, they are normally put on all bunches, but some must have fallen off:
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The prettiest part of the route is around km. 10:
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In the afternoon, I walked down to the beach and had a pint at a bar on the promenade, while enjoying the view; there were certainly people in the sand, but fewer than would be normal on a July afternoon in a normal year:
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The local authorities have tried to make the beaches a bit safer in these Covid times, for example by encouraging one-way traffic on the walkways:
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There are also signs explaining the various rules (social distance etc.), although curiously, the municipality chose to put them up only in Valenciano, the official language here, that is understandable to speakers of normal Spanish but is certainly not the preferred language of 99% of the visitors to this beach. A case of political correctness winning over common sense:
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On Saturday night, we went out for dinner with friends, sitting outside as usual. The restaurant was a modest bar in El Campello’s fishing harbour that we expected to have good seafood. While the food was a disappointment, the ambience was nice:
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