Much of this week’s blog are pictures taken during drives with my daughter–except that she was behind the wheel, having passed her driving test in late February, on her third attempt (it is the norm here; passing on the first attempt is very rare). So we have been taking drives on weekends, trying to mix different roads: urban, rural, motorways and curvy mountain roads.
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But first three photos from from a morning bike ride to Aigües. It was a day with very mixed light, a combination of sunshine and dark clouds in the mountains:
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Aigües is a rural village but there are some artsy types living there, and they often leave their mark on the trees and abandoned buildings in the area. Here, someone questions the wisdom of cutting down this tree (presumably it was dead or damaged and threatened to fall on the road):
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A sign of the times. All restaurants have been closed for table service in the past month, but from 1 March they will be allowed to re-open for outdoor service only. The sign on the restaurant says that they will re-open on 2 March “if Ximo Puig lets us” (Ximo Puig is the president of the Valencia autonomous region; Covid restrictions, as is the case of health policy in general, are determined at the regional level here in Spain):
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And then it was time for a Sunday drive with Monica:
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We replicated one of my cycling routes, going first to Jijona and then to Busot, stopping to photograph one of my favourite spots:
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And also stopping to take a look at the enormous solar power plant under construction:
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Back at the office, I continued my occasional portraits of co-workers with masks, here Blanca:
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We hosted the annual meeting of our private sector stakeholders (the likes of Business Europe or more specialised lobbies like IFPI, the voice of recorded music world-wide). My colleague Justyna is making a presention. Here she is on Zoom:
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And here in her office, photographed just moments after the previous photo, since her office is across the hallway from mine:
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On Saturday, another drive with Monica, this time south to Urbanova, the beach area south of my office. At the entrance to the beach promenade someone has written “rebel, they are lying to us”. Not clear to what this refers:
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On the beach at Urbanova, some people were trying to take advantage of the strong wind:
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A small part of return to quasi-normality–coffee on a terrace:
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The windsurfers were having a good time:
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This guy had to work on it a bit:
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But in the end he made it:
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It is not uncommon to see people having their pre-nuptial photos taken on the beach. This couple could clearly had done without the wind:
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I finish the weak with a healthy dinner. A vegetarian shakshuka:
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Accompanied by a Greek salad:
Bon appétit!