{"id":4937,"date":"2026-01-22T06:28:36","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T05:28:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/?page_id=4937"},"modified":"2026-01-22T06:58:38","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T05:58:38","slug":"week-03-my-friend-lars-comes-to-visit","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/?page_id=4937","title":{"rendered":"Week 03: My friend Lars comes to visit"},"content":{"rendered":"

My friend Lars lives in our hometown Aarhus in Denmark. He comes to visit me every year in January, and we indulge in a week of cycling, photography, art and just talking. Lars was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2022 but has now fully recovered, and for the first time since January 2022 he was at full strength as far as cycling is concerned. He arrived late Saturday night.<\/p>\n

3_1<\/strong>
\nI started Sunday with the usual morning walk on the beach:
\n\"DSF3181\"<\/p>\n

3_2<\/strong>
\nThen we went for our first ride of his visit, just the 40 km to Aigues and Busot to get Lars used to our hills again. I was pleased to see that his climbing performance had improved since last year:
\n\"1050248\"<\/p>\n

3_3<\/strong>
\nOn Sunday afternoon, my daughter had invited some friends for a backyard barbecue. Lucas brought an impressive slab of meat:
\n\"DSF3185\"<\/p>\n

3_4<\/strong>
\nBeing Argentine, Lucas (just like his father Eliot) is a master of seared beef:
\n\"DSF3194\"<\/p>\n

3_5<\/strong>
\n\"DSF3195\"<\/p>\n

3_6<\/strong>
\nMochi followed the action with great interest:
\n\"DSF3197\"<\/p>\n

3_7<\/strong>
\nMeanwhile, we were munching on Monica’s homemade hummus:
\n\"DSF3184\"<\/p>\n

3_8<\/strong>
\nMochi LOVES carrots:
\n\"DSF3190\"<\/p>\n

3_9<\/strong>
\n\"DSF3191\"<\/p>\n

3_10<\/strong>
\n\"DSF3192\"<\/p>\n

3_11<\/strong>
\nAt the table:
\n\"DSF3199\"<\/p>\n

3_12<\/strong>
\nMochi and Monica:
\n\"DSF3207\"<\/p>\n

3_13<\/strong>
\nI had to work on Monday, but first Lars and I walked to the beach with Mochi to look at the sunrise:
\n\"DSF3216\"<\/p>\n

3_14<\/strong>
\n\"DSF3213\"<\/p>\n

3_15<\/strong>
\nMore of the same on Tuesday morning, but with a difference–I had taken the day off:
\n\"DSF3220\"<\/p>\n

3_16<\/strong>
\nTuesday was the day we had picked to climb the Carrasqueta mountain pass. Last year Lars was still suffering the aftereffects of his illness and we did not quite make it, turning around 6 1\/2 km from the top. But this time Lars was back to full strength and we were hopeful that he could make it. Our first rest stop was at this roadside bar at 700m altitude where we turned around last year:
\n\"1050251\"<\/p>\n

3_17<\/strong>
\nHalf an hour later we could take our victory selfie at the pass:
\n\"IMG3598\"<\/p>\n

3_18<\/strong>
\nWe rested for a few minutes, taking in the view of the landscape:
\n\"1050254\"<\/p>\n

3_19<\/strong>
\nA nice house, albeit a bit far from everything:
\n\"1050256\"<\/p>\n

3_20<\/strong>
\nIn the evening, we went for dinner at a nearby Ukrainian restaurant. We had taken Mochi with us, so we sat outside:
\n\"DSF3223\"<\/p>\n

3_21<\/strong>
\nI had been meaning to visit this restaurant for a while, and I was not disappointed. The food was delicious:
\n\"DSF3224\"<\/p>\n

3_22<\/strong>
\nWalking home after dinner, I photographed this woman on a bench in the park:
\n\"DSF3225\"<\/p>\n

3_23<\/strong>
\nWednesday morning, another beautiful sunrise:
\n\"DSF3232\"<\/p>\n

3_24<\/strong>
\nThursday was Mochi’s second birthday, and Monica had baked a doggie cake for him (involving carrots, peanut butter and other things that are good for dogs):
\n\"DSF3237\"<\/p>\n

3_25<\/strong>
\nMochi approved:
\n\"DSF3240\"<\/p>\n

3_26<\/strong>
\nMonica had also bought doggie champagne:
\n\"DSF3245\"<\/p>\n

3_27<\/strong>
\nI took Friday off too, and we spent the day in Valencia, Spain’s 3rd city after Madrid and Barcelona. We first went to IVAM (Instituto Valenciano del Arte Moderno). As soon as we parked, Lars pointed his camera towards the pavement:
\n\"DSF3251\"<\/p>\n

3_28<\/strong>
\nThis is what had caught Lars’s attention:
\n\"DSF3253\"<\/p>\n

3_29<\/strong>
\nWe saw a fantastic exhibition of works by Spanish photographer Cristina Garc\u00eda Rodero:
\n\"DSF3268\"<\/p>\n

3_30<\/strong>
\nWe then went for a coffee at the IVAM cafeteria, and Lars assumed this sinister pose for a portrait:
\n\"DSF3272\"<\/p>\n

3_31<\/strong>
\nWe visited Valencia’s cathedral, had lunch, and then drove to the Albufera natural park south of Valencia:
\n\"DSF3293\"<\/p>\n

3_32<\/strong>
\n\"DSF3315\"<\/p>\n

3_33<\/strong>
\nThe Albufera park is beautiful, and so close to the big city:
\n\"DSF3300\"<\/p>\n

3_34<\/strong>
\nLars was leaving on Saturday afternoon, so we had time to visit the Mercado Central in the morning. The fish and seafood section is usually the most photogenic part of the market:
\n\"DSF3319\"<\/p>\n

3_35<\/strong>
\n\"DSF3322\"<\/p>\n

3_36<\/strong>
\n\"DSF3323\"<\/p>\n

3_37<\/strong>
\nAn avid reader:
\n\"DSF3321\"<\/p>\n

3_38<\/strong>
\nThe fruit and vegetable section is an explosion of colour:
\n\"DSF3324\"<\/p>\n

3_39<\/strong>
\nBehind the market there is a small square with flower stalls and a bar with a (thankfully) covered terrace where we sat down for a coffee:
\n\"DSF3326\"<\/p>\n

3_40<\/strong>
\nA wet little dog from one of the flower stalls:
\n\"DSF3325\"<\/p>\n

3_41<\/strong>
\nBreakfast with a friend:
\n\"DSF3331\"<\/p>\n

After that, we went home, had lunch and I drove Lars to the airport for his flight home to Denmark. A small gallery from our day in Valencia is here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My friend Lars lives in our hometown Aarhus in Denmark. He comes to visit me every year in January, and we indulge in a week of cycling, photography, art and just talking. Lars was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2022 but has now fully recovered, and for the first time since January 2022 he was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":4915,"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\/4937"}],"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=4937"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4937\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4945,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4937\/revisions\/4945"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}