The week following my return from Poland contained two main events: a visit at the atelier of a local artist called Almudena Torró, and the first same-sex wedding I have ever attended.
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But I start with a glorious sunrise during my Thursday morning bike ride. Sunrise in Alicante is about 8 a.m. this time of year, so I get to see it every morning. Usually I just keep pedaling, since my focus is on doing the 25-30 km ride as fast as possible and then go to work, but this morning it was too nice not to stop:
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Our art club at the office has recently obtained a small exhibition space in our building which we want to use to showcase the work of local artists. So one afternoon, my colleague Kari and I went to visit Almudena Torró who creates beautiful sculpture out of a material that seems a cross between string and wire. We discussed the logistics of the contemplated exhibition:
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Kari showed Almudena photos of the exhibition space:
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Almudena has her studio in an apartment in a high-rise building by the sea:
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She is very animated when talking about her work:
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Showing us a gallery of her works:
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A proper workspace:
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My last photo of the visit, shot without raising the camera to my eye, shows Almudena at her animated self:
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The executive director of our agency, Christian Archambeau, was leaving on September 30th, so on Thursday he gave a farewell speech to the staff:
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On my way home that afternoon, I stopped at Malatesta and was rewarded with this nice encounter with the pooch and his Belgian human:
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On Friday afternoon I left work early and we drove to Altea, a town about 50-60 km north of Alicante, where we were going to attend a wedding of two women, one of whom we have known since 2007. We had booked a room in a beachfront hotel:
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The wedding had a 1920s theme, and my wife and daughter had been going nuts during the preceding weeks, buying all manner of clothing and accessories from Amazon, returning the stuff they did not like. This was the outfit they ended up with:
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Christine brought her dog into the marriage, and the doggie was dressed up too:
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The ceremony:
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After the ceremony, we had some snacks and drinks while being entertained by these ladies:
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Then we sat down for dinner:
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Egle and Christine with their cake:
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The next morning, waking up at our hotel, we witnessed another lovely sunrise:
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On our way home, we stopped in Villajoyosa for the standard hangover cure, a full English breakfast (in Monica’s case, without the bacon and sausages):
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Two of the other guests in the restaurant:
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On the way back to our car, a striking mural: