This was the last full week of 2024. I was not working anymore, so there was plenty of time for cycling and walking around, and then we celebrated Christmas at home and got together with friends on Boxing Day.
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On the morning of the 22nd, I walked down to the beach to see the first sunrise after the solstice. While waiting for the sun, I looked at a man and his dog at the water’s edge:
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Stretching:
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The sun appears, and I feel a tiny bit pagan:
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Another way to see the rays of the rising sun, looking at the small details:
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Or looking at the grand vista:
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Later that morning, I cycled north to Villajoyosa, stopping at a small beach just south of the town, Playa Bol Nou. I like the view of Alicante in the distance:
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It may be late December, but a few people still enjoy the beach. Playa Bol Nou is mostly used by people who live in the immediate vicinity:
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A big rock formation separates Playa Bpl Nou from the larger beaches closer to the town:
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In the afternoon, my wife and I went for lunch at a local restaurant (5 minutes walk from our house) called Casa Segis. It is am amazing deal. For 37 EUR you get a great menu with several appetisers like this one, followed by a paella of your choice, with unlimited beer and soft drinks:
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Our rice with lamb and artichokes was excellent:
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On Monday I met up for lunch with my former trainee Romy, who is now studying at the College of Europe in Bruges but was back in Alicante, spending the holidays with her parents here. As always, Romy was more than happy to pose for an informal portrait:
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On Tuesday I started the day with another bike ride, stopping in Verdegás to say hello to the cats there:
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In the afternoon I went to the centre for some last-minute Christmas shopping. The city was crowded, many other people had the same idea:
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Having done my shopping, I settled down for a beer at Malatesta to deal with the trauma:
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Other people did the same:
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Then Christmas morning arrived, and the presents were under the tree:
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Our daughter has been to Barcelona a couple of times this year, and she contributed a Catalan feature to our tree, a tío de nadal:
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Gifts were exchanged:
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After the gift exchange, I put the camera on self-timer and we made this year’s official cheesy family portrait:
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We had the Christmas lunch at the house of our friends Eliot and Assumpta. My wife contributed this creation to the table, an edible Christmas tree:
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My wife with Eliot, who put a goofy hairpiece:
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Balu looking for tummy rubs:
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On Boxing Day I cycled to Jijona. I had noticed this embellished road sign during previous rides, but this time I stopped to photograph it:
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Along the road to Jijona there is a large vegetable farm. The crops are varied, but here is a large field of artichokes:
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On my way back, I stopped to photograph something else that I had noticed before but never stopped to photograph. The road on which I cycled passed under a motorway, and someone has painted the supporting columns. The murals are quite elaborate, well beyond the usual tagging, and I have no idea how they came about:
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Inspired by our upcoming trip to Puerto Rico, my wife decided to make pasteles, a traditional Puerto Rican dish that is very labour intensive. Her mother used to make it when we visit, but does not do it anymore:
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The filling is finely chopped pork, cooked in oil and a sofrito made from garlic, cilantro and other good things:
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The base is a mix of ñame (yam) and plaintains, finely ground, everything placed on a banana leaf:
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The banana leaf is folded to create the pasteles:
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The pasteles are tied with string and then boiled:
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A couple of random images from my walks. A guy outside Malatesta with a different Santa outfit:
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A father playing with his children on the beach wall:
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I finished the week with a long ride south to Elche and Santa Pola, passing Alicante airport. I stopped to take a picture of a Transavia plane taking off. This brought memories of my year in Seville in 2003-2004, when I commuted between Amsterdam and Seville on a weekly basis, most of the time on this airline, a low-cost subsidiary of KLM:
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The southern-most point of my ride, the fishing harbour of Santa Pola:
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I was being watched from the top of the fishermen’s association building:
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On my way home, I cycled along the small coastal road, and looked up at the subdivisions in the hills above. The people living there certainly have a nice view:
And so ends the 24th year of posting weekly pictures.