{"id":2070,"date":"2018-01-08T12:35:57","date_gmt":"2018-01-08T11:35:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/?page_id=2070"},"modified":"2018-01-08T12:46:44","modified_gmt":"2018-01-08T11:46:44","slug":"week-53-the-year-ends","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/?page_id=2070","title":{"rendered":"Week 53: the year ends"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the last weekly blog of 2017, of course ending with a New Year’s Eve celebration. But before that, there is a walk around Alicante.<\/p>\n

53_1<\/strong>
\nPlaza Seneca in the centre of Alicante, decked out for the benefit of the neighbourhood children:
\n\"DSF0199\"<\/p>\n

53_2<\/strong>
\nA typical feature of Alicante neighbourhoods–a nativity scene:
\n\"DSF0204\"<\/p>\n

53_3<\/strong>
\nThe Christmas period is long in Spain; Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are mostly devoted to eating and drinking. The gift exchanges tend to take place on January 6th, Three Kings’ Day:
\n\"DSF0201\"<\/p>\n

53_4<\/strong>
\nOne morning I went to the Mercado Central. Before entering, I photographed this nearby mural. I have photographed it before, but the light was fairly good that morning:
\n\"DSF4776\"<\/p>\n

53_5<\/strong>
\n\"DSF4777\"<\/p>\n

53_6<\/strong>
\nA somewhat mysterious inscription on the stairs leading to the main entrance of the Mercado Central. The neighbourhood around the Mercado is not particularly gay (there is a neighbourhood with several gay bars etc. elsewhere in downtown Alicante):
\n\"DSF4774\"<\/p>\n

53_7<\/strong>
\nThe Mercado, suitably decorated:
\n\"DSF4780\"<\/p>\n

53_8<\/strong>
\nA well-known fishmonger:
\n\"DSF4784\"<\/p>\n

53_9<\/strong>
\nA stand devoted solely to eggs; but according to the sign, these are eggs from happy hens:
\n\"DSF4785\"<\/p>\n

53_10<\/strong>
\nFruit stand detail:
\n\"DSF4786\"<\/p>\n

53_11<\/strong>
\nAnd the final photo from the city, a curious lottery vendor sign on Avenida de la Estaci\u00c3\u00b3n:
\n\"DSF4794\"<\/p>\n

53_12<\/strong>
\nBack home, a cat on the golf course–this is not a stray, he lives in one of the houses on the edge of the course. He just likes to roam, just like my late Taco:
\n\"DSF4773\"<\/p>\n

53_13<\/strong>
\nMy son and I visited the “pet memorial tree” at the dog park, so he could see the ribbon I have hung for our recently departed, beloved Cheeta:
\n\"DSF4795\"<\/p>\n

53_14<\/strong>
\nOn the final day of the year, I had to take a bicycle ride. It was a nice, crisp morning, and I enjoyed the view of Busot, a village I pass 2-3 times each week:
\n\"R003127\"<\/p>\n

53_15<\/strong>
\nI also stopped to photograph this neat piece of wall art on a discarded piece of concrete:
\n\"R003126\"<\/p>\n

53_16<\/strong>
\nAnd then New Year’s Eve arrived, and the usual circle of friends gathered at the home of Cani and Nereyda to welcome 2018:
\n\"R003131\"<\/p>\n

53_17<\/strong>
\nThe dogs were there too, waiting for their share in the kitchen:
\n\"R003130\"<\/p>\n

53_18<\/strong>
\nMy wife and children–usually, our parties are informal, but we do dress up for New Year:
\n\"R003136\"<\/p>\n

53_19<\/strong>
\nThe hosts, Cani and Nereyda:
\n\"R003138\"<\/p>\n

53_20<\/strong>
\nI\u00c3\u00b1aki and Dallal:
\n\"R003151\"<\/p>\n

53_21<\/strong>
\nTooting their horns:
\n\"R003139\"<\/p>\n

53_22<\/strong>
\nIt has now gone past midnight, everyone has eaten their 12 grapes (“uvas de suerte”) at each strike of the clock, and general hugging and wishing each other a happy new year ensues:
\n\"R003155\"<\/p>\n

53_23<\/strong>
\nAnd the big, but gentle, Atila also gets in on the act:
\n\"R003162\"<\/p>\n

And so ends my 17th year of posting these weekly blogs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the last weekly blog of 2017, of course ending with a New Year’s Eve celebration. But before that, there is a walk around Alicante. 53_1 Plaza Seneca in the centre of Alicante, decked out for the benefit of the neighbourhood children: 53_2 A typical feature of Alicante neighbourhoods–a nativity scene: 53_3 The Christmas […]<\/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\/2070"}],"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=2070"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2070\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2072,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2070\/revisions\/2072"}],"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=2070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}