A week of cycling and culinary events at home in Alicante. And my magic cactus bloomed again.
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On Sunday I cycled south to Elche and Santa Pola. While passing the centre of Alicante, I ran into some closed streets–there was a half-marathon going on. I stopped at the beginning of the Esplanada de España to have a look at the runners for a few minutes. This lady was the epitome of the long-distance runner’s suffering, an inherent part of the sport (not too dissimilar from cycling):
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A couple of guys passing by, also fairly concentrated:
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Checking his time:
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Attention:
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After around 45 km, I took the usual Coke-and-banana break in the harbour of Santa Pola before turning north for the remaining 30 km to get home; the people traffic there proceeded at a much more sedate pace:
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My late mother’s magic cactus, which had just bloomed earlier in May, has gone crazy. On Tuesday evening, it had four new flowers with another two on their way:
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By Wednesday morning, all six were open:
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But this is short-lived beauty. Twenty-four hours later, on Thursday morning, the original four flowers were already wilted:
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On Wednesday we had a special event at the sit-down restaurant in the office. A well-known Alicante chef, José Antonio Sánchez, came to prepare a lunch menu in cooperation with the in-house chef, similar to a guest conductor at an orchestra. The menu was 35 EUR, more than twice the usual lunch price in the restaurant, but it was a nice opportunity to sample some creative cuisine, and five of us went together. The food was attractive, both visually and gustatorily. This was the appetiser:
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José Antonio made the rounds of the tables, talking about his food and getting feedback from the customers:
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The salad (or, more accurately, the veggie dish):
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The seafood dish:
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The fish:
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The plato fuerte–the meat (pork) dish:
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The delicious ending:
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Friday of the previous week was our daughter’s 24th birthday; she had made plans to celebrate with some friends, so instead she came for dinner on Wednesday and we had a modest delayed celebration:
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Friday was the last Friday of May, so we had the usual “last Friday of the month” drink at the office:
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Looking for a refill:
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Esther talking to Masaru, a colleague from the Japan Patent Office who is working with us for 6 months:
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Francisco and Jesús:
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Carolina and Tamara:
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Charo, a seconded national expert from the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office:
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Charo with Fouzya, our Belgian secretary:
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On Saturday morning, I was back on the bicycle, heading north towards the mountains. While passing the Muchavista beach in El Campello, I photographed this flag, indicating the presence of jellyfish. Except that is something worse–we have an invasion of Portuguese man o’war along our coast, and bathing is prohibited:
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The bathing prohibition does not affect me personally, since my preferred way of enjoying the beach is this:
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I finish the week with a lemon from our garden–my wife dubbed it the Love Lemon:
