The week started with a very important event from which I have no photos. The most important general election since 1989 took place in Poland, with a real chance to get rid of the nasty, Catholic-nationalist government that had been in place for 8 years. For the first time since I came to Alicante in 2007, a voting location was created here (in earlier elections we had to go to the Polish consulate in Valencia, 2 hours away), and more than 4,000 voters took advantage, among them me, my sister and brother-in-law, and even my daughter Monica (who is also a Polish citizen because of me). There are not 4,000 Polish people living in Alicante, but I assume that a lot of people from cities such as Elche, Benidorm, Torrevieja, Murcia etc. came to vote here also. Anticipating long queues, we went to vote first thing in the morning, at 7:30. In the end, our efforts were not in vain: the democratic opposition won the election, and we are now looking forward to a normal government in Poland.
42_1
After voting, we went for breakfast on the beach, first enjoying the view while walking from the car to the café:
42_2
And then enjoying a nice baguette:
42_3
My sister and brother-in-law were leaving on Monday, so my wife wanted to give them a nice treat on Sunday by making her delicious seafood paella. I really think that my wife makes better paella than I have had in any restaurant. She makes everything from scratch, including the all-important broth, or caldo. She uses the BBQ as the base for the paellera:
42_4
Ready to serve:
42_5
Ready to eat:
42_6
On Monday afternoon, just before I drive them to the airport, my brother-in-law watches Polish TV for election news. At that point the counting of the ballots was still going on, but exit polls clearly indicated an opposition victory:
The rest of the pictures this week at from a weekend trip to Barcelona to visit my friend Lluis and meet up with visiting friends from Australia, Geoff and Bronwyn. I travelled to Barcelona by train rather than driving. It takes about the same time, about 5 hours, but is actually cheaper and obviously more relaxing. To make it 100% public transport, I took the tram to the train station in the centre of Alicante.
42_7
While I waited for the tram that would take me to Alicante’s train station, I enjoyed another beautiful sunrise:
42_8
42_9
After arriving in Barcelona, I checked into my hotel and then walked to the restaurant where we were meeting for lunch. Here are Geoff and Bronwyn, studying the menu attentively:
42_10
This being a gathering of photographers, cameras were in use throughout our meeting:
42_11
After lunch, Geoff and Bronwyn went to their hotel for siesta, while Lluis and I walked around Barcelona. Lluis turned 80 the other day, but his energy is that of a much younger man. We first went to one of his favourite spots, the modern art museum MACBA. Outside there are always lots of young people hanging out:
42_12
Nearby is a large anti-AIDS mural by American artist Keith Haring who died of the disease in 1990:
42_13
A very young footballer, wearing a Liverpool jersey, a sign of impeccable taste:
42_14
We then walked around in the El Raval neighbourhood. Around 5 p.m., shops re-open after the lunch break:
42_15
We popped into a neighbourhood bar that Lluis knows (he seems to know every classic bar in Barcelona):
42_16
It is the kind of place where regular customers come in to show off their new baby:
42_17
On the main thoroughfare of El Raval there is a large cat sculpture by Colombian artist Fernando Botero (who died in September 2023):
42_18
The tail:
42_19
We moved on to another place to observe youth culture and street art, Jardins de les Tres Xemeneles (Garden of the Three Chimneys), the site of a former power station:
42_20
Inside the Three Chimneys Garden:
42_21
The wall art is constantly evolving:
42_22
The sun was now setting as we continued to walk the streets of El Raval:
42_23
Lluis and I first met many years ago because we were both active in the Leica Users Group on the internet. So it was only natural to bring my Leica M2 loaded with black & white film to Barcelona, and I used it during our walks alongside my digital Fuji camera:
42_24
Then it was time to go for dinner. Lluis had chosen Can Culleretes. Having been founded in 1786, this is the oldest continuously operating restaurant in Barcelona:
42_25
On Lluis’s recommendation, I had a traditional Catalan dish, cod with white beans (Bacalao a “la llauna” con judías blancas):
42_26
I had the train back to Alicante on Sunday at 10 a.m., so I got up early and went for a walk in the dark, almost empty streets around my hotel, just off the Rambla:
42_27
42_28
The Rambla itself was empty:
42_29
Well, almost empty. This is not a homeless person, but rather someone who had too much to drink the night before. This is the kind of low-grade tourism many people in Barcelona object to:
42_30
After sunrise, a bit more activity:
42_31
Breakfast on Plaça Reial:
42_32
My last photo from Barcelona, some wall art near the Paral-lel metro station from where I took the metro to the Sants train station and my train to Alicante:
A full Barcelona gallery can be seen here.