After the excitement of the trip to Budapest, it was back to the daily life of work and cycling, and getting together with friends.
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I started the week with a ride on the Vía Verde. Near the top, it comes close to the paved road which I use to get home (once I have reached the end of the Vía Verde):
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The two cycling tribes came into view. I mostly do road cycling, but on this day I was on gravel:
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After my ride, we went to our neighbours for lunch. They had invited us for paella. Here is the rice, resting under a piece of cardboard:
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The paella on the table. Not my favourite kind (I do not like the work involved in eating the shellfish), but it was tasty enough:
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Our neighbours are Spanish (he) and French (she) and they actually live in Geneva; their home here is their vacation home:
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Now that we are past the autumn equinox, sunrise is around 7:30 here in Alicante, so I get to see some nice seascapes at the start of morning bike rides. This is Thursday morning:
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Morning exercise:
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Friday morning:
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Another beautiful sight–one of the best beers in the world, on tap at the Malatesta bar:
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On Saturday morning in Aigües, there were some guys on antique BMW motorcycles on the square:
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On Saturday night, we went for dinner at a restaurant in the neighbourhood where we lived until moving to our current house in 2018. It is quite modest from the outside, but the food is great, and eating there on a warm summer evening is a real treat, especially when you are outside and can look at and photograph the other guests:
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On Sunday morning I was on the bicycle again, this time in the town of Agost. On the way I stopped for a break in a village called Verdegás. I did not see any people there, but the cats were out and about:
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In Agost, I sat down for a Coke and a banana in a small square outside the local municipal office. I was amused by this exercise equipment, designed to encourage the local senior citizens to move a bit even when just relaxing on the benches:
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I noticed a small EU flag on the bike rack:
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Taking a closer look, I discovered that the equipment had been funded by EU structural funds. This is how our Union works, with things big and small:
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In the afternoon, we had friends over for lunch, again centered around paella, which my wife has really mastered. I was in charge of the appetizers, like these endive boats filled with ensaladilla rusa and topped with anchovies:
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And some salad:
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Meanwhile, my wife was getting the paella ingredients ready:
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Then she fried the seafood on the paellera:
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The rice and homemade caldo (broth, the key to a good rice) have been added, now it is just a matter of 15 minutes or so:
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And ready. Even our fundamentalist Valencian friends would approve:
