Winter is coming, which does not mean that much here–temperatures at night are low, down to the 5-6 degrees C on the coldest nights, but in the afternoon it is usually sunny and up to 20C or so. But occasionally there is a spell of rain and wind, as happened during this week, and another unmistakable sign of the season: Christmas decorations in the streets.
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I do not go to the centre of Alicante that often right now, partly because I want to avoid crowded places and partly because it is depressing to see all the places that have shut down during the pandemic. But on Sunday evening I drove down to the Puerta del Mar, the area with hotels and bars near the harbour, to enjoy a bit of light. First, the natural light of the recently set sun:
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Many people take pictures of themselves next to the surfer statue:
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Nearby, on the Esplanada de España, the large Christmas tree has been put up. It is not actually a tree, but very nice and impressive nonetheless:
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Detail:
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A few people were milling around, taking pictures:
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Two big side streets start at the Esplanada. One of them is the Rambla de Méndez Núñez, a street with many bars and restaurants, many of them closed now, sadly. But the lights definitely give a more cheerful image:
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Plaza del Ayuntamiento, the square in front of our city hall, also nicely decorated:
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Plaza Luceros, a large circular square near Alicante’s main train station. The centre looks quite deserted in these images, but that is because Sunday evening is the one evening when many people stay at home, and also the area I visited are not the main shopping streets:
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On Friday morning, some seriously bad weather rolled in. But to a photographer, bad weather means photo opportunities, so on the way to work in the morning I stopped at the beach for a few minutes:
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Rain and clouds over the Mediterranean:
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The wind was blowing in:
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In the afternoon, on the way home, I stopped again, at a vantage point from where I could look both north towards the part of the city where I live:
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And to the south, towards Santa Pola:
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On Saturday morning, some residual clouds were still there but it was now dry and I could enjoy my mountain playground on the bicycle once again. On the way to the foothills I saw this family of four on the beach:
