This week spring officially arrived, and the weather mostly cooperated.
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Typical Spanish scene. A couple takes a walk with an elderly member of the family. The way families stick together and look after each other is one of the most attractive aspects of Spanish society:

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Another typical scene from my neighbourhood. One apartment has a “for rent” sign, while the neighouring balcony still has the flag from celebrations of Spain’s World Cup win last year:

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Another typical scene, a lady and her dog having breakfast outside the bakery where I buy bread on weekends:

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We have two falcons nesting at our office, and this week they spent quite some time just outside our 5th floor windows:

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Sunset over Alicante, seen from Castillo Santa Barbara one evening on my way home from work:

Saturday morning I woke up to a day of glorious sunshine, took my motorcycle and rode south towards Santa Pola. The next several pictures are from that outing.
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Just before you get to the town of Santa Pola, there is a large area of trails for hiking and mountain biking:

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This is Cabo (Cape) de Santa Pola and its lighthouse:

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There are some interesting abandoned farmhouses in the area:

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But the main reason people come to the lighthouse is to enjoy views like this. This image is looking north towards Alicante:

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And this is the view the other way, looking towards the island of Tabarca:

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I continued to the centre of Santa Pola and the fishing harbour:

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Where there are fish, there are seagulls:

The last image is something completely different. It is a rare thing for me–as lens test.
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I got a new macro lens this week, and tested it on my wife’s Three King statuettes. What you see here is the full frame. The entire face is about 4 cm wide, and the eye about 5 mm. The lens is a Pentax 35mm f2.8 Limited, shot at its maximum aperture:

The statuette really needs some facial cream for the complexion … 🙂
Comment by Brian Swale — 21 March 2011 @ 13:12