{"id":2036,"date":"2017-12-05T21:06:08","date_gmt":"2017-12-05T20:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/?page_id=2036"},"modified":"2017-12-05T21:57:46","modified_gmt":"2017-12-05T20:57:46","slug":"week-47-parties-thanksgiving-friday-at-the-office","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/?page_id=2036","title":{"rendered":"Week 47: parties, Thanksgiving, Friday at the office"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This week&#8217;s blog is dominated by various party-related activities. Not that I did not do other things (since Thanksgiving is not a Spanish holiday, it was a normal working week for me), but it just so happened that the camera was out mostly when not working.<\/p>\n<p><strong>47_1<\/strong><br \/>\nI started the week with a bike ride to the Puerto de la Carrasqueta on Sunday morning. This was the first time since July (when my knee began to act up) that I was able to make the climb from sea level to the pass at 1020 meters. It was great to enjoy this view again:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2017\/47_1.jpg\" alt=\"R002903\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>47_2<\/strong><br \/>\nIn the afternoon, we had yet another barbecue in Benidorm, at the house of our friends Mariluz and Roberto. Just a relaxed affair, and the weather was still nice:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2017\/47_2.jpg\" alt=\"DSF9885\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>47_3<\/strong><br \/>\nCani makes a point:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2017\/47_3.jpg\" alt=\"DSF9890\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>47_4<\/strong><br \/>\nMore points being made:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2017\/47_4.jpg\" alt=\"DSF9887\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>47_5<\/strong><br \/>\nClassy headgear:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2017\/47_5.jpg\" alt=\"DSF9888\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>47_6<\/strong><br \/>\nMore classy clothing, modeled by I\u00c3\u00b1aki:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2017\/47_6.jpg\" alt=\"DSF9898\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>47_7<\/strong><br \/>\nMariluz&#8217;s cat, looking at me warily:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2017\/47_7.jpg\" alt=\"DSF9894\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>47_8<\/strong><br \/>\nMariluz and kitty:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2017\/47_8.jpg\" alt=\"DSF9893\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>47_9<\/strong><br \/>\nClose-up portrait:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2017\/47_9.jpg\" alt=\"DSF9892\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>47_10<\/strong><br \/>\nFrom Tuesday to Thursday we had the semiannual meetings of the governing bodies of our office (composed of representatives of the 28 EU member states, the European Commission and the European Parliament). So I spent most of those three working days in this room:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2017\/47_10.jpg\" alt=\"R002908\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>47_11<\/strong><br \/>\nAnother grab shot; while Iberian ham is available year round, it is especially popular and prominently displayed in the supermmarkets at Christmas time:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2017\/47_11.jpg\" alt=\"R002909\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>47_12<\/strong><br \/>\nThursday was Thanksgiving Day in the US, but a normal working day here in Spain. However, the American restaurant in the centre of town, Liberty Kitchen, put on a special Thanksgiving lunch menu, available by reservation only:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2017\/47_12.jpg\" alt=\"DSF9905\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>47_13<\/strong><br \/>\nA small group of us in the office have US citizenship in addition to our European ones. For example, Herbie was born in Kansas and has US and Spanish citizenship. Five of us went to enjoy the lunch at Liberty Kitchen:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2017\/47_13.jpg\" alt=\"DSF9899\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>47_14<\/strong><br \/>\nMy plate. Not a full-size home Thanksgiving meal, but pretty good for lunch:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2017\/47_14.jpg\" alt=\"DSF9901\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>47_15<\/strong><br \/>\nTime to pay. I took the rest of the afternoon off to do a bike ride to work off the excess food:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2017\/47_15.jpg\" alt=\"DSF9903\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>47_16<\/strong><br \/>\nThe next day was the last Friday of November, meaning the usual noontime drink and snack at the office:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2017\/47_16.jpg\" alt=\"DSF9917\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>47_17<\/strong><br \/>\nStephanie tries some new booze (I had brought a bottle of Korean sake):<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2017\/47_17.jpg\" alt=\"DSF9907\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>47_18<\/strong><br \/>\nShe likes it:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2017\/47_18.jpg\" alt=\"DSF9908\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>47_19<\/strong><br \/>\nGive me more of that!<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2017\/47_19.jpg\" alt=\"DSF9912\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>47_20<\/strong><br \/>\nA serious side conversation:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2017\/47_20.jpg\" alt=\"DSF9915\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>47_21<\/strong><br \/>\nStephanie pops into her office, pretending to work:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2017\/47_21.jpg\" alt=\"DSF9921\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>47_22<\/strong><br \/>\nFranciska and Carolina, a German lawyer and a Spanish economist, respectively, both very good at what they do:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2017\/47_22.jpg\" alt=\"DSF9924\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>47_23<\/strong><br \/>\nTime to get back to work. Our secretary Kasia (Polish, her real name is Katarzyna, the Polish version of Catherine) puts the goodies back in the fridge kept in Stephanie&#8217;s office for that purpose:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2017\/47_23.jpg\" alt=\"DSF9922\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>47_24<\/strong><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2017\/47_24.jpg\" alt=\"DSF9923\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>47_25<\/strong><br \/>\nNo week without some cycling images. This is the A70 motorway, looking south at sunset:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2017\/47_25.jpg\" alt=\"R002912\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>47_26<\/strong><br \/>\nOn Saturday, I cycled to Jijona, a semi-hard ride of about 60 km with a decent amount of climbing. In the town, I took a Coke and banana break next to this not very talkative woman:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2017\/47_26.jpg\" alt=\"R002914\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>47_27<\/strong><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2017\/47_27.jpg\" alt=\"R002915\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>47_28<\/strong><br \/>\nIt has now been a month since we lost our Cheeta, and I miss her terribly. Every weekend I go to the nearby dog park and sit by the pet memorial tree for a few minutes:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2017\/47_28.jpg\" alt=\"DSF9926\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>47_29<\/strong><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2017\/47_29.jpg\" alt=\"DSF9925\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This week&#8217;s blog is dominated by various party-related activities. Not that I did not do other things (since Thanksgiving is not a Spanish holiday, it was a normal working week for me), but it just so happened that the camera was out mostly when not working. 47_1 I started the week with a bike ride [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1779,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2036"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2036"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2040,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2036\/revisions\/2040"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}