Back in Alicante after last week’s trip to Paris, this was a week of the usual beach walks and an important meeting of stakeholders hosted by our office, the annual plenary meeting of the European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights.
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The daily exercise crew on the beach:
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Looking at the sunrise:
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Another way to look at morning light:
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Most mornings I get to the beach before sunrise these days:
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Alicante is prime hen and stag party territory, thanks to cheap flights from the UK:
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No week is complete without some Mochi-related photos. When I am in my home office and my wife is in the kitchen, he likes to be on the door step so as to monitor the situation in both places:
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We meet a lot of other dog walkers during our walks:
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Mochi at The Place:
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That bar is popular among other dog people:
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A cat looking at Mochi and me:
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A cat in Verdegás during a bike ride:
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On Tuesday we had the plenary meeting of the Observatory. I no longer work in that department, but I work with them on various things, and in any event they always invite me to events like this. Stephanie and Silvia were the two main organisers, and were busy and concentrated throughout:
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Helen and Véronique assured me that they had *not* called each other in the morning to coordinate their outfits:
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Our house photographer Fany taking a break:
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In the evening we had the usual social dinner near the hotel where most of the external participants were staying. Marie is a senior official of the European Brands Association, based in Brussels, and a good friend for several years:
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Marie talking to Patricia, the director of our Observatory department:
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Stephanie and Carmen at my table. The light was really ugly, so I converted to black & white:
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Eri was there too, here talking to a delegate from Germany:
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When I walk to the beach, I usually take a 35mm or 50mm lens. But sometimes I put on my newly acquired Viltrox 90mm lens for a different perspective:
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That particular morning the sky looked decidedly threatening:
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Reflections:
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Not sure what to make of this slogan which appeared on one of the storage sheds on the beach. It says “Neither bread nor house nor peace”:
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My late mother’s Magic Cactus has been active during the past month. Here, on of its “children” also contributed a flower:
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The main cactus had bloomed a week or so ago. Those flowers are now completely wilted, but a new one appeared this week:
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Sunday started with the usual beach walk:
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I like to see people doing different things on the beach, something that I see often. This woman was doing handstands and recording her efforts:
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Later that morning I cycled to Aigues. A large group of local people were setting out on a hike, a tradition I have seen before:
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I noticed a couple of new artworks on Aigues balconies:
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In the afternoon, I went to 100 Montaditos for a beer. We are now out of the high summer season, but it is still often 30 degrees and very pleasant. I noticed a young woman with a big lens, photographing the action on the beach:
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A couple on the beach wall:
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On the way home, I stopped to have a look at beach volleyball competition that was taking place. But then I realised that it was not standard volleyball. It was a cross between volleyball and football. The players can head or kick the ball across the net; but touching the ball with one’s hands is not allowed. It was pretty hard core and looked a lot more demanding than normal volleyball:
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I stuck around for a few minutes, looking at the action:
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The match over, the winning team pile on each other in celebration, in the best football tradition:
