Prowling my world, camera in hand

29 February 2016

Week 09: Mallorca, wine, sunrises and rugby

Filed under: — Administrator @ 12:49

A bit of an eclectic week, which started on Mallorca and included a wine tasting, some nice sunrises and various odds and ends from around Alicante.

9_1
The week started early Sunday morning in Palma de Mallorca. I was going back to the mainland following Saturday’s bicycle event (see last week’s blog). The ferry was departing at 8 a.m. so I was on deck to enjoy the sunrise over Palma:
1010531

9_2
1010534

9_3
1010536

9_4
A crew member makes some last-minute inspections or adjustments. I liked the way his jacket matches the life boats. Note that the ferry is registered in Greece:
1010532

9_5
Convenience flag:
1010547

9_6
At 8, the ferry departed as planned, and I hung around on deck to take in the view of Palma’s waterfront:
1010545

9_7
A few hours later, the ferry made a landing in Ibiza before continuing to Denia on the mainland. We did not get off the boat but I got some quick views of Ibiza nonetheless:
1010550

9_8
1010556

9_9
I was back home around 5 p.m., tired but very satisfied. In the evening, we got together with some friends just to chill out a bit:
1010560

9_10
On Tuesday evening, we had our monthly wine tasting at the office. Don Felipe, the proprietor of the bodega Gutierrez de la Vega, was an animated presenter:
DSF9323

9_11
DSF9326

9_12
Takis used to work at the office. He recently retired but still participates in important activities such as wine tastings:
DSF9332

9_13
Truth be told, I was not crazy about the wines presented this evening but I did like the labels:
DSF9328

9_14
DSF9331

9_15
DSF9330

9_16
Three pictures from the centre of Alicante. I like to look at the sometimes fanciful signs. Here is a vintage clothes shop:
DSF9334

9_17
A dog grooming place:
DSF9336

9_18
Colourful shutters:
DSF9339

Then some sunrise pictures. At this time of the year, I am up and about at sunrise, either walking the dog or doing a pre-work bike ride.

9_19
Playa Muchavista, during a bike ride on Thursday morning:
1010561

9_20
On Friday, my wife was going to Madrid on a 7:20 a.m. train. So I dropped her off at the train station and then went to work early. The side benefit was that I enjoyed a magnificent sunrise from the office terrace:
DSF9349

9_21
DSF9347

9_22
DSF9360

9_23
A blast from the past, seen while walking my dog on Saturday morning. This is a much-beloved car, associated with the counterculture of the 1960 and 1970s (in Denmark its nickname was slum-stormer’s tank). I do not know how old this one is, but production ended in 1990, so it is at least 26 years old:
DSF9364

9_24
DSF9363

9_25
Sometimes a good way to enjoy the early morning light is not to look at the sunrise but at the buildings that are illuminated by the rising sun:
1010566

The last three pictures are from a bar in El Campello, just under 9 km from my house, where I have started to go to watch sports. In contrast to other sports bars around here, they have an excellent beer selection, and the place does not get ridiculously crowded. The owners are French and the beer list has a heavy Belgian influence which is a very good thing.

9_26
I went there on Saturday afternoon to watch the England-Ireland rugby match, part of the Six Nations championship currently underway. These two English gentlemen were very knowledgeable about the game:
1010572

9_27
The neighbouring table was occupied by a group of local Spanish people who were there just to have a drink and converse, not to watch sports. Here is a selfie in production:
1010569

9_28
An itinerant seller of Chinese trinkets offering his wares to the people at the table. This is a common scene in the bars around here:
1010576

No Comments »

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Leave a comment

Powered by WordPress