{"id":4182,"date":"2023-12-12T06:57:27","date_gmt":"2023-12-12T05:57:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/?page_id=4182"},"modified":"2023-12-12T07:06:23","modified_gmt":"2023-12-12T06:06:23","slug":"week-49-alicantes-giant-nativity-display","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/?page_id=4182","title":{"rendered":"Week 49: Alicante’s giant nativity display"},"content":{"rendered":"

A mixed bag this week, with the main event the installation of what is allegedly the world’s largest nativity display in front of Alicante’s city hall. Besides that, I cycled to Agost, we had a BBQ with our friends, and life went on.<\/p>\n

49_1<\/strong>
\nBut I start with an afternoon picture from the beach, with a couple sitting in the sand, illuminated by the setting sun:
\n\"DSF3449\"<\/p>\n

49_2<\/strong>
\nThen we move to the centre of Alicante. Every year, a huge nativity scene is erected, with statues up to 19 meters tall. It is allegedly the largest such display in the world. In any event, it is impressive, and I went to have a look on the day it was officially inaugurated for this season:
\n\"DSF3453\"<\/p>\n

49_3<\/strong>
\nInside the city hall there is a more traditional nativity display:
\n\"DSF3458\"<\/p>\n

49_4<\/strong>
\n\"DSF3456\"<\/p>\n

49_5<\/strong>
\nGiven Alicante’s location on the Mediterranean coast, the nativity display has a maritime theme:
\n\"DSF3457\"<\/p>\n

49_6<\/strong>
\nOpposite the nativity scene there are these statues of two royal couples, one Moorish and one Christian, representing the heritage of this part of Spain:
\n\"DSF3459\"<\/p>\n

49_7<\/strong>
\nI like this ornate staircase and the sculpture by Salvador Dal\u00c3\u00ad:
\n\"DSF3460\"<\/p>\n

49_8<\/strong>
\nLooking out through the entrance to the city hall:
\n\"DSF3461\"<\/p>\n

49_9<\/strong>
\nWhile I had been inside the city hall, darkness began falling and the giant nativity display outside was now illuminated:
\n\"DSF3466\"<\/p>\n

49_10<\/strong>
\nAdmiring a selfie they had just made:
\n\"DSF3463\"<\/p>\n

49_11<\/strong>
\nThe city hall is also impressively decorated:
\n\"DSF3472\"<\/p>\n

49_12<\/strong>
\n\"DSF3475\"<\/p>\n

49_13<\/strong>
\nOn Wednesday morning (Wednesday was a public holiday in Spain, so no work) I was out on two wheels again, stopping in Verdeg\u00c3\u00a1s to check on the cats. But I also took this picture of the small church, which I find better in black & white:
\n\"1030752\"<\/p>\n

49_14<\/strong>
\nThe cats were there as always:
\n\"1030754\"<\/p>\n

49_15<\/strong>
\n\"1030756\"<\/p>\n

49_16<\/strong>
\nIn Agost, I found the usually sleepy square teeming with activity; the Christmas market was on:
\n\"1030766\"<\/p>\n

49_17<\/strong>
\nThe fountain at the centre of the square was decorated with various old artifacts and messages about sustainability. The connection between the messages and the objects was rather unclear:
\n\"1030761\"<\/p>\n

49_18<\/strong>
\nTeenage girls dress the same way in Agost as everywhere else:
\n\"1030757\"<\/p>\n

49_19<\/strong>
\nMany of the stands were selling things to benefit various charities. Here is one that I support, Felinos Lo Morant, a group that looks after homeless cats in a part of Alicante:
\n\"1030764\"<\/p>\n

49_20<\/strong>
\nOn the way out of Agost, I saw this cat surveying his territory:
\n\"1030768\"<\/p>\n

49_21<\/strong>
\nIn the afternoon, we were again at the house of Eliot and Assumpta for lunch. This time, as opposed to last week, the focus was very much on meat. Here are the Argentine father and son minding the BBQ:
\n\"DSF3481\"<\/p>\n

49_22<\/strong>
\nA very interested Balu was hanging around the grill:
\n\"DSF3482\"<\/p>\n

49_23<\/strong>
\nHe apparently liked the smells:
\n\"DSF3479\"<\/p>\n

49_24<\/strong>
\nI also took Thursday and Friday off, and on Friday I went to the centre to buy some supplies at the Asian grocery near Plaza Seneca. On the square itself, I saw a sight I always enjoy, children playing on the air raid shelters from the Civil War that have been preserved as historical monuments. A true case of “swords to plowshares”, so to speak:
\n\"DSF3487\"<\/p>\n

49_25<\/strong>
\n\"DSF3488\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A mixed bag this week, with the main event the installation of what is allegedly the world’s largest nativity display in front of Alicante’s city hall. Besides that, I cycled to Agost, we had a BBQ with our friends, and life went on. 49_1 But I start with an afternoon picture from the beach, with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":3855,"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\/4182"}],"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=4182"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4187,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4182\/revisions\/4187"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}