In the last week of October I continued to enjoy the nice weather, often in the company of Mochi. The Saturday ending the week was my birthday, which I celebrated by taking a long bike ride in the morning, followed by a visit to Alicante’s bullfighting arena which was being used for a much better purpose than bullfighting, namely to put on a German-style Oktoberfest.
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The week started with some cloudy and windy weather:
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On Sunday night I walked with Mochi to the The Place bar for a spot of beer and football:
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By Tuesday morning the clouds were gone and the wind had died down:
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On Wednesday I had my periodic lunch with Eri. At one point she was called by her daughter (who lives in London):
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But then it was time for a smile:
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On Friday morning Mochi and I walked down to the beach as usual. He was intrigued by the sand castle:
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Then he started furiously digging a hole for no apparent reason:
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On Friday evening we went back to The Place. The Halloween habit has also invaded Spain, but there is not that much trick-or-treating in private homes. Instead, local businesses like this bar buy some candy to give away. A mother is waiting for her children to come back out:
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The various scary creatures emerge from The Place:
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Meanwhile, Mochi was interested in some of the nuts that accompanied my beer:
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Saturday was my birthday. My wife was playing in a golf tournament, so I spent most of the day alone (well, with Mochi); we were going to have dinner at a nice restaurant that evening. In the morning, I did a 65 km ride in the mountains around Maigmó. The local road follows the A7 motorway part of the way:
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After reaching the highest point of the ride, I descended towards the town of Agost, on another pretty road:
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The road between Maigmó and Agost is popular among motorcyclists also:
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Another nice landscape:
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I came home, showered, had lunch and then drove to the centre to have a look at the Oktoberfest. After some trouble finding a parking, I walked to the Plaza de Toros. I hate bullfighting and very much applaud the use of the arenas for events like concerts and other festivals:
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It was early in the afternoon, so the big tent was only about half full:
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In contrast to the Oktoberfest in Munich, there was no table service, so you had to get your own beer and food:
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The beer and the food was all authentic:
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Happy to see a friend:
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Posing:
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I was pleased to see one small group of people dressed in proper Bavarian attire:
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