{"id":3705,"date":"2022-08-09T19:47:06","date_gmt":"2022-08-09T18:47:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/?page_id=3705"},"modified":"2022-08-09T19:47:06","modified_gmt":"2022-08-09T18:47:06","slug":"week-30-dogs-the-office-pelota-valenciana-in-agost","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/?page_id=3705","title":{"rendered":"Week 30: dogs, the office, pelota valenciana in Agost"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The last week of July offered more hot weather, but also a relaxed atmosphere at the office (few meetings, many people away). And I finished the week with a nice bike ride during which I witnessed a local tradition for the first time.<\/p>\n<p><strong>30_1<\/strong><br \/>\nBut I start with four dog pictures. First, one of my visits to the bar Malatesta in the centre on my way home. I stop there perhaps once or twice a month for a Tripel Karmeliet. This little dog is almost always there; he and his human are certainly regulars:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2022\/30_1.jpg\" alt=\"DSF3278\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>30_2<\/strong><br \/>\nOne morning, when cycling, I just had to stop to witness this portrait session on the beach promenade:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2022\/30_2.jpg\" alt=\"1020571\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>30_3<\/strong><br \/>\nDuring lunch with friends, a hot dog called Palta:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2022\/30_3.jpg\" alt=\"1020597\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>30_4<\/strong><br \/>\nPalta, joined by Balu, even hotter since he has more fur and it is dark. Both dogs are young, born in December 2019:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2022\/30_4.jpg\" alt=\"1020603\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>30_5<\/strong><br \/>\nCarolina got some really wonderful news earlier in July. Until now, she has been with us on a so-called 5+5 contract, meaning that she was initially hired for 5 years when she joined in 2013, and her contract was extended for a second 5-year period in 2018. After that, further extensions are not possible; either the employee is converted to an indefinite contract, or she has to leave at the end of the second contract (which in Carolina&#8217;s case would have meant March 2023). Fortunately, Carolina got the good news, and she wanted to celebrate by inviting us for lunch. The other woman in this photo is Marie-H\u00c3\u00a9l\u00c3\u00a8ne, whom we had not seen (other than on a screen) since March 2020. She has some health issues that would make it extremely dangerous for her to contract Covid, and so she has been teleworking 100% of the time. But she did join us for Carolina&#8217;s celebration, and we were all very pleased:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2022\/30_5.jpg\" alt=\"DSF1518\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>30_6<\/strong><br \/>\nCarolina with Micha\u00c5\u201a; two very good economists, I am lucky to be their boss:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2022\/30_6.jpg\" alt=\"DSF1519\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>30_7<\/strong><br \/>\nCarolina is always good for a funny face and animated gestures:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2022\/30_7.jpg\" alt=\"DSF1515\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>30_8<\/strong><br \/>\nJuly 31st was the last Friday of the month, and we resurrected our tradition of a drink and a snack at mid-day:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2022\/30_8.jpg\" alt=\"DSF1525\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>30_9<\/strong><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2022\/30_9.jpg\" alt=\"DSF1530\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>30_10<\/strong><br \/>\nClaire, smiling:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2022\/30_10.jpg\" alt=\"DSF1536\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>30_11<\/strong><br \/>\nTamara showing something on her phone:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2022\/30_11.jpg\" alt=\"DSF1543\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>30_12<\/strong><br \/>\nOn Sunday, I did a long bike ride, starting early to be back before the afternoon heat. On the way to a mountain called Maigm\u00c3\u00b3, I stopped for a break and photographed the nice cloud formations over the landscape:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2022\/30_12.jpg\" alt=\"1020580\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>30_13<\/strong><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2022\/30_13.jpg\" alt=\"1020583\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>30_14<\/strong><br \/>\nMaigm\u00c3\u00b3 is about 35 km from my house, and getting there involves riding uphill for close to 2 hours (it is at 650 meters altitude). After taking a short break at a parking lot used by hikers, I cycled home via the town of Agost, where I usually stop for a snack and a Coke. But this time I found the street that I use to get to the grocery store closed for a local event, a tournament of a local version of handball called <em>pelota valenciana<\/em>. A small group of locals were watching the action with appropriate picnic supplies at hand:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2022\/30_14.jpg\" alt=\"1020586\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>30_15<\/strong><br \/>\nI got off the bike and watched for a while. The sport has short bursts of intense action involving a small, hard ball the size of a golf ball. I never figured out how points were won or lost:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2022\/30_15.jpg\" alt=\"1020591\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>30_16<\/strong><br \/>\nBut the players knew, that&#8217;s what counts:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2022\/30_16.jpg\" alt=\"1020593\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>30_17<\/strong><br \/>\nThe men were commenting on the game; clearly, they were knowledgeable and involved:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2022\/30_17.jpg\" alt=\"1020594\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>30_18<\/strong><br \/>\nThey were very friendly and offered me their snacks and beer. And when I told them that since I had another 30 km to get home, I did not want beer just yet, they magically produced my preferred refreshment, a Coke Zero:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2022\/30_18.jpg\" alt=\"1020595\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>30_19<\/strong><br \/>\nThey also insisted on posing for a picture:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2022\/30_19.jpg\" alt=\"1020585\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>30_20<\/strong><br \/>\nTo finish this week, a random piece of Alicante street art:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2022\/30_20.jpg\" alt=\"DSF1521\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The last week of July offered more hot weather, but also a relaxed atmosphere at the office (few meetings, many people away). And I finished the week with a nice bike ride during which I witnessed a local tradition for the first time. 30_1 But I start with four dog pictures. First, one of my [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":3513,"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\/3705"}],"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=3705"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3705\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3706,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3705\/revisions\/3706"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}