It was a week with nice weather, good cycling, and much time spent outside when not working. The two main groups of images come from a walk near El Campello harbour and a bike ride to Villajoyosa.
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One morning I went for a pre-dawn walk on our beach:
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I hung around to see the sunrise:
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Meditation on the beach:
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On Sunday afternoon I went for a walk in El Campello, on the harbour end of the beach promenade. This is an area with many bars and usually full of people. But not now:
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The closed bars and restaurants presented a desolate picture:
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All restaurants and bars are closed, for now until the end of February. Many places put a notice like this, claiming that they are closed for vacation:
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This hotel was more honest about it. The notice says, “We inform you that due to the new restrictions imposed by the Valencia Region, our hotel remains closed. The re-opening is foreseen when people start behaving more responsibly”:
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The paseo was not completely deserted, however. One bar was open for takeout (this is allowed), so these men had bought a beer and were enjoying it on the edge of the promenade, with an onlooker:
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The kitty posed for me:
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And then he got to work on his scratching post:
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The week saw the start of a nice project. My colleague Carmen paints when she is not running the finances of our department. She teleworks most of the time, but this week she came to the office one day and I photographed her in front of the paintings she has in her office. She is currently working on a web site of her stuff, and we agreed to a more extensive photo session the following week:
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I telework one day a week, on Wednesdays, and on this Wednesday I went to a Chinese restaurant to pick up lunch. Like all restaurants, it is takeaway only. While I waited for my food, I snapped this adorable little girl, part of the family that owns the place, totally absorbed in her game:
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Friday morning was a rare foggy day. I stopped on my way to work to get a photo of a rare occurrence in Alicante:
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Another grab shot–a bird meeting:
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On Friday afternoon, a strong southerly wind began to blow. It continued all night, bringing fine sand from the Sahara up to Spain. This was my car on Saturday morning:
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On Saturday, I cycled up the coast to Villajoyosa. My first stop was Playa Bol Nou just south of the town, a wonderful secluded beach only frequented by locals:
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Man and friend:
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Looking north:
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I then moved on to the main beach of the town, with the colourful houses along the waterfront:
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I sat down on a bench and watched the human traffic a bit:
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On my way home, I stopped to photograph this painter along the main road connecting Valencia and Alicante:
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Some food to end the week. One evening I made a new (for me) recipe, buttery kimchi shrimp. The biggest part of the work was the peeling:
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The finished product, accompanied by braised pak choi:
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And another evening, two dishes from countries that do not like each other much; on the left a Turkish dish called “The Imam Who Fainted” and on the right a Greek salad: