I started the week in Wrocław, my flight home to Alicante was on Monday afternoon. I decided to use the morning to explore a neighbourhood called Nadodrze (literally: “above the Odra river”). I had read that there were interesting murals to explore there, and I had never visited that neighbourhood before.
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I was not disappointed. Nadodrze had the vibe of a working class neighbourhood being inflitrated by artists and various “alternative” types. And indeed there were lots of murals:
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The most striking was this mosaic mural, with the tiles made by different local artists:
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An artistic backyard:
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Looking out:
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Having read “100 Years of Solitude” by Gabriel García Márquez earlier this year, I was struck by the name of this café:
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Skateboarder:
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The flood danger having passed, the first signs of return to normality:
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Not quite the Last Supper, but the last lunch with my sister and brother-in-law during this visit:
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Back in Alicante, on Tuesday evening we had a meeting of our book club. The book of the month was “De Aanslag” (“The Assault”) by Dutch writer Harry Mulisch. As always, Eri came well prepared and had a lot to say about the book and how she experienced it:
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My Dutch colleague Harrie who had selected the book:
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My Finnish colleague Kari:
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On Friday, our small mens group “Les 8 Salopards” (loosely translated from the French: “The 8 assholes”) had our monthly lunch. This time it was my turn to choose the place, and I had chosen Hostal Maruja on the beach:
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Roberto and Christian, studying the menu:
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The neighbouring table:
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Our main dish, arroz de marisco, has arrived:
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I finish with an important event in my culinary education. I have long wanted to try surströmming, a Swedish specialty which is basically a small herring fermented under controlled circumstances. It is one of the most stinky foods in the world and cannot be eaten indoors. A Swedish colleague brought me a tin from Stockholm, and I set up my sensory experience on my back terrace:
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I opened the tin and contemplated the slime and the stench:
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Ready to eat, served on a special crispbread on top of boiled potatos, and topped with red onion. Definitely an acquired taste:
