In what has become an annual tradition, my high school friend from Denmark, Lars, came to visit during the second week of January. We share a passion for cycling and photography, so there was plenty of stuff to do together.
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On Sunday, I cycled to Rojales to visit my friends in the Cuevas del Rodeo, the artist community there. On the way, I stopped at a convenience store near Elche to take a break and have a Coke. The owners of the shop have adopted this kitty:
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At the Cuevas del Rodeo, the artists residing there had open houses, including this guy, Santi:
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This is my friend Jenni and her baby. The hand belongs to Jenni’s mother-in-law, Carmen, that is the baby’s grandmother. The joy of recognition is evident:
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Trying to get two babies to socialize:
More images from the open house event are here.
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The next day Lars arrived and we went cycling in the mountains as usual:
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We had decided to cycle to Tibi to visit Lili and buy some of her goat cheese. There were other customers in her shop:
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Lili had just finished a fresh batch of various cheeses:
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On the way home from Tibi, we stopped at Jijona to have a last look at the nativity scene which was still in place, even though Three Kings Day was already behind us:
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Another tradition connected with Lars’s visits is that he makes pizza for us. He is a master of all manner of baking, including homemade pizza which is far better than anything you will find in Pizza Hut etc. Here he is preparing the dough:
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Lots of goodness in there:
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Human blender:
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Once ready, the dough is divided into pizza-sized portions and put to rest in the fridge overnight:
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Next evening, Lars forms the pizzas:
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Lars works on the toppings, Cheeta supervises:
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Checking on the first pizza:
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The first one is ready:
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One of Lars’s new pizzas is one topped with smoked salmon, craime fraiche and caviar, of course after it has been baked:
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It is delicious:
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Another one, ready for the oven:
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Goat cheese pizza:
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This one has meat and mushrooms:
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And it is served with rucola leaves on top:
On Saturday, Lars and I took a break from cycling, since we were planning a hard ride on Sunday. Instead, we drove south to La Marina and Rojales, where I wanted to show Lars the Cuevas del Rodeo.
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Our first stop was the Salinas de Santa Pola:
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Lars’s photography was mainly analogue on this trip:
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He brought a 4×5 pinhole camera:
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Lars’s backpack. The only digital tool here is the Ricoh GR:
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We then drove on to La Marina and Playa del Pinet, where Hostal Maruja, the seafood restaurant I have shown on many occasions, is located. But it is now closed for the season, and the beach houses are mostly empty as well:
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Lars’s big pinhole camera saw action here too:
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Boats wintering on the beach:
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When you shoot 4×5, pretty soon you need to reload the film holders. So we went for a cup of coffee and Lars got out his changing bag and the other required paraphenalia:
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Our final destination was Rojales. We first drove up to this hill overlooking the city. It is unclear what the three crosses represent, but I think this is the local recreation of the Golgotha hill:
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This would then be the Via Dolorosa of Rojales:
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We then went to the Cuevas del Rodeo. This being a Saturday, most of the caves were closed and the place was almost deserted. But Lars was still able to have a look:
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Wall painting:
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We were not completely alone, though. We were being watched:
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But then he decided that we were not important:
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One of the emblematic sculptures overlooking the area:
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One of the caves was open, a ceramics workshop, and we had some fun with this particular piece. “Tejero” presumably refers to Antonio Tejero, the leader of the failed coup against the then newly established Spanish democracy in 1981:
And then we drove home and ate some more pizza.