{"id":5075,"date":"2026-05-16T06:15:46","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T05:15:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/?page_id=5075"},"modified":"2026-05-16T08:03:43","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T07:03:43","slug":"week-18-santa-cruz-flower-festival","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/?page_id=5075","title":{"rendered":"Week 18: Santa Cruz flower festival"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A week at home. It was a four-day week, since Friday was Labour Day. I used it to visit the central neighbourhood called Santa Cruz where a flower festival was taking place. In reality it was less about flowers and more about a fiesta, as is the case with most events here in Spain.<\/p>\n<p><strong>18_1<\/strong><br \/>\nAs I sometimes do, I stopped by 100 Montaditos on the beach on my way home from work Monday afternoon. The pigeons were there too:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2026\/18_1.jpg\" alt=\"DSF4313\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>18_2<\/strong><br \/>\nMy morning walks with Mochi continued to provide me with nice photo opportunities:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2026\/18_2.jpg\" alt=\"DSF4319\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>18_3<\/strong><br \/>\nThe Magic Cactus that bloomed so gloriously last week was beginning to wilt by Tuesday morning:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2026\/18_3.jpg\" alt=\"DSF4325\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>18_4<\/strong><br \/>\nAs usual, we had the &#8220;Tuesday market&#8221; at the office. I bought some good bread from these ladies:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2026\/18_4.jpg\" alt=\"DSF4327\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>18_5<\/strong><br \/>\nAnother sunrise walk, on Thursday morning. These two young women were doing a photo session on the beach:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2026\/18_5.jpg\" alt=\"DSF4333\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>18_6<\/strong><br \/>\nStuff washed up onto the beach:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2026\/18_6.jpg\" alt=\"DSF4336\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>18_7<\/strong><br \/>\nA &#8220;found&#8221; image. When I see something like this, I wonder what happened. Did the runner decide that the shoes were bad and chose to run home barefoot?:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2026\/18_7.jpg\" alt=\"DSF4337\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>18_8<\/strong><br \/>\nAnother walk, Friday morning. We are being watched:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2026\/18_8.jpg\" alt=\"DSF4340\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>18_9<\/strong><br \/>\nLater on Friday, I went to the centre to visit a residential area in the barrio called Santa Cruz. It is a traditional neighbourhood with narrow, steep streets, recently infested by AirBnBs and their ilk, but still retaining a special atmosphere. My daughter told me that there was some kind of flower festival, so I went to have a look. While walking from the parking garage to Santa Cruz, I took a few photos, starting with this quintessential scene which I have experienced many times during my 43 years of married life:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2026\/18_9.jpg\" alt=\"DSF4344\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>18_10<\/strong><br \/>\nThis is the season for stag and hen parties. I ran into these guys. The future groom is wearing a sign asking for female volunteers for one last &#8220;mission&#8221; in freedom:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2026\/18_10.jpg\" alt=\"DSF4343\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>18_11<\/strong><br \/>\nA bar door in the centre:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2026\/18_11.jpg\" alt=\"DSF4347\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>18_12<\/strong><br \/>\nAs I entered Santa Cruz, I noticed this sign on a balcony, saying &#8220;we want to sleep&#8221;. Santa Cruz has many bars and clubs and the place gets noisy on Friday and Saturday nights:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2026\/18_12.jpg\" alt=\"DSF4348\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>18_13<\/strong><br \/>\nSanta Cruz was crowded:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2026\/18_13.jpg\" alt=\"DSF4350\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>18_14<\/strong><br \/>\nA memorial plaque to a local artist, thanking her for making this corner of Alicante full of colour:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2026\/18_14.jpg\" alt=\"DSF4349\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>18_15<\/strong><br \/>\nI finally reached the upper part of Santa Cruz, where the festival was on. A cross of flowers:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2026\/18_15.jpg\" alt=\"DSF4351\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>18_16<\/strong><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2026\/18_16.jpg\" alt=\"DSF4355\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>18_17<\/strong><br \/>\nBut it was not just flowers, there were a lot of fanciful decorations in front of houses, including this Mexican-themed one:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2026\/18_17.jpg\" alt=\"DSF4356\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>18_18<\/strong><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2026\/18_18.jpg\" alt=\"DSF4358\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>18_19<\/strong><br \/>\nAn altar:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2026\/18_19.jpg\" alt=\"DSF4359\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>18_20<\/strong><br \/>\nA flying rainbow dog:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2026\/18_20.jpg\" alt=\"DSF4360\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>18_21<\/strong><br \/>\nThis image shows how steep the streets are:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2026\/18_21.jpg\" alt=\"DSF4361\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>18_22<\/strong><br \/>\nGiant flowers and butterflies:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2026\/18_22.jpg\" alt=\"DSF4365\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>18_23<\/strong><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2026\/18_23.jpg\" alt=\"DSF4370\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>18_24<\/strong><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2026\/18_24.jpg\" alt=\"DSF4371\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>18_25<\/strong><br \/>\nUnidentified flying object:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2026\/18_25.jpg\" alt=\"DSF4368\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>18_26<\/strong><br \/>\nMiraculously, I found a bar with a free table outside to have a beer while looking at the passers-by. On the way back to the car, I photographed another sign reflecting life in the barrio. It says &#8220;do not pee here, this is the door to my house&#8221;:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2026\/18_26.jpg\" alt=\"DSF4372\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>18_27<\/strong><br \/>\nA bar table in the barrio:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2026\/18_27.jpg\" alt=\"DSF4374\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>18_28<\/strong><br \/>\nA photo session on Calle de las Setas:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2026\/18_28.jpg\" alt=\"DSF4375\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>18_29<\/strong><br \/>\nI finish with some more photos of my walks with Mochi. A cloudy morning on the beach, with the drummer guy out there, playing to the rising sun. I have seen him there on other occasions:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2026\/18_29.jpg\" alt=\"DSF3068\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>18_30<\/strong><br \/>\nAn alarm system:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2026\/18_30.jpg\" alt=\"1050402\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>18_31<\/strong><br \/>\nPoking through the fence:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2026\/18_31.jpg\" alt=\"1050405\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>18_32<\/strong><br \/>\nOur Saturday evening walks often end like this:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"uploads\/2026\/18_32.jpg\" alt=\"1050409\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A week at home. It was a four-day week, since Friday was Labour Day. I used it to visit the central neighbourhood called Santa Cruz where a flower festival was taking place. In reality it was less about flowers and more about a fiesta, as is the case with most events here in Spain. 18_1 [&hellip;]<\/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\/5075"}],"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=5075"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5075\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5079,"href":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5075\/revisions\/5079"}],"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=5075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}