{"id":4507,"date":"2024-12-18T15:22:03","date_gmt":"2024-12-18T14:22:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/?page_id=4507"},"modified":"2024-12-18T19:58:00","modified_gmt":"2024-12-18T18:58:00","slug":"week-48-barcelona-madrid-a-walk-in-alicante","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/?page_id=4507","title":{"rendered":"Week 48: Barcelona, Madrid, a walk in Alicante"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first week of December was special. I visited Spain’s two biggest cities during the week, Barcelona and Madrid, and I also said goodbye to my son in Madrid airport. Later in the week, I took a long walk in the centre of Alicante to look at the Christmas decorations in my city.<\/p>\n

48_1<\/strong>
\nI had a business engagement in Barcelona Monday, so I flew up there Sunday morning to meet up with my friend and Leica Users Group icon, Lluis:
\n\"DSF2805\"<\/p>\n

48_2<\/strong>
\nLluis and I went to visit the Amazonias<\/a> exhibition at CCCB, the Barcelona Contemporary Culture Centre:
\n\"DSF2827\"<\/p>\n

48_3<\/strong>
\n\"DSF2826\"<\/p>\n

48_4<\/strong>
\nAs we walked around, from time to time we stopped for refreshments at some watering hole, including this one, called the Black Sheep:
\n\"DSF2835\"<\/p>\n

48_5<\/strong>
\nOn Monday morning it was time for work. I was in Barcelona to attend an event at the Barcelona Free Trade Zone, organised by the OECD, to promote a new Code of Conduct for free trade zones developed by the OECD and designed to ensure that such zones are not abused for trade in counterfeit goods and other illicit activities. The Barcelona zone is the first FTZ in the world to adopt this code. The event was held at a part of the zone called DFactory, a sort of business incubator:
\n\"DSF2850\"<\/p>\n

48_6<\/strong>
\nMy fellow economist and fellow Pole, Piotr from the OECD, speaking at the roundtable:
\n\"R000687\"<\/p>\n

48_7<\/strong>
\nPere Navarro, the president of the Barcelona Free Trade Zone and Marion Jansen, director of the Trade Department at the OECD:
\n\"R000691\"<\/p>\n

48_8<\/strong>
\nLater in the morning, we visited various facilities at the free trade zone, including the testing lab where various chemicals and materials arriving in the zone are tested for compliance with Spanish and EU regulations. Protective garb must be worn:
\n\"R000697\"<\/p>\n

48_9<\/strong>
\n\"R000699\"<\/p>\n

48_10<\/strong>
\nThe SGS employee showing us around and explaining the various operations. It was fascinating:
\n\"R000703\"<\/p>\n

48_11<\/strong>
\nThe day ended with a late lunch at a very nice restaurant on the outskirts of Barcelona:
\n\"R000709\"<\/p>\n

48_12<\/strong>
\n\"R000713\"<\/p>\n

Afterwards, I rushed to the airport and flew back to Alicante. More photos from the short visit to Barcelona can be seen here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

48_13<\/strong>
\nAs I was getting into my car at Alicante airport, my children called me–they were in the centre and were wondering if I would meet them for a beer. It goes without saying that I agreed, and 20 minutes later I was sitting outside Malatesta with Monica and Moses:
\n\"DSF2872\"<\/p>\n

48_14<\/strong>
\nWednesday morning it was time for my wife and daughter to say goodbye to Moses. My wife prepared a proper cooked breakfast to see off her firstborn:
\n\"DSF2873\"<\/p>\n

48_15<\/strong>
\n\"DSF2875\"<\/p>\n

48_16<\/strong>
\nAfterwards, Moses and I drove to Madrid where we would spend the afternoon and evening. After checking in at our hotel near the airport, we took the metro to the centre and walked around for the next few hours, starting at the Plaza Puerta del Sol (or simply Sol, as most people say):
\n\"DSF2886\"<\/p>\n

48_17<\/strong>
\nOutside the big Corte Ingl\u00c3\u00a9s department store we met these delightful young women, selling calendars to benefit an animal shelter:
\n\"DSF2879\"<\/p>\n

48_18<\/strong>
\nMoses wanted to visit a particular shoe store, so we visited the posh district of Salamanca. While walking along one of the wide boulevards, we saw this special view of the sunset:
\n\"DSF2881\"<\/p>\n

48_19<\/strong>
\nThis is the shop, selling handmade shoes from Mallorca:
\n\"DSF2883\"<\/p>\n

48_20<\/strong>
\nThe city looks really festive at this time of the year:
\n\"DSF2884\"<\/p>\n

48_21<\/strong>
\nOur next stop was Plaza Mayor, a large square lined with bars and restaurants, most of which are tourist traps. But now it was occupied by a Christmas market:
\n\"DSF2888\"<\/p>\n

48_22<\/strong>
\nPeople queueing to see the nativity display:
\n\"DSF2889\"<\/p>\n

48_23<\/strong>
\nAnother queue, this time for the local specialty bocadillo de calamares<\/em>:
\n\"DSF2890\"<\/p>\n

48_24<\/strong>
\nNear Sol, a small monument to mark Spain’s accession to the EU in 1986. Coming just a decade after the death of longtime dictator Franco, it was an important milestone in Spain’s journey to becoming a normal, modern Western European country:
\n\"DSF2891\"<\/p>\n

48_25<\/strong>
\nWe finished the evening with dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant. When I took the photo, we had just arrived, at 8 p.m., so the place was almost empty, this being a country where most people have dinner around 9:30-10 p.m.:
\n\"DSF2893\"<\/p>\n

48_26<\/strong>
\nThursday morning I took Moses to the airport. My last photo of his visit is in the queue to claim the VAT refund for the clothes he had bought in Alicante:
\n\"DSF2895\"<\/p>\n

I said goodbye to Moses and drove the 420 km back to Alicante.<\/p>\n

48_27<\/strong>
\nFriday was a public holiday, so I could go on my regular bike ride, first stopping in the village Verdeg\u00c3\u00a1s to say hello to the cats there:
\n\"1040597\"<\/p>\n

48_28<\/strong>
\nThen I went on to Agost, where I saw this cute creature on the square:
\n\"1040598\"<\/p>\n

48_29<\/strong>
\nLate Friday afternoon I went to the centre of Alicante to walk around a bit to have a look at the holiday decorations. My first stop was the square in front of city hall where the nativity display is on a truly giant scale:
\n\"DSF2903\"<\/p>\n

48_30<\/strong>
\n\"DSF2898\"<\/p>\n

48_31<\/strong>
\n\"DSF2899\"<\/p>\n

48_32<\/strong>
\n\"DSF2900\"<\/p>\n

48_33<\/strong>
\nThere is also a display on the wall of the cathedral:
\n\"DSF2907\"<\/p>\n

48_34<\/strong>
\nI continued walking on a street called, somewhat misleadingly, Calle Mayor (it is in fact a smallish pedestrian street). I liked this scene of man, sitting alone with his coffee and his phone:
\n\"DSF2913\"<\/p>\n

48_35<\/strong>
\nAs usual, I looked for amusing details in the urban landscape. Here is an example of a relationship gone bad. In the top box it says “I don’t hate you because hate is a feeling, and I feel nothing towards you”. The response below can be roughly translated as “With all my love: fuck you”:
\n\"DSF2912\"<\/p>\n

48_36<\/strong>
\nHere is an example of deceptive advertising. From a distance, the poster reads “Free Drugs”, so of course curious people will approach to have a closer look. The full text says “We are not going to give you drugs, and the party is not completely free, but is the only groove party in San Vicente”:
\n\"DSF2911\"<\/p>\n

48_37<\/strong>
\nThe most traditional nativity display in Alicante is on Plaza Monta\u00c3\u00b1eta. It is a glass stucture, with each of the four walls depicting a particular part of the story. Here is “birth in the olive grove”:
\n\"DSF2919\"<\/p>\n

48_38<\/strong>
\nA typical scene, a family looking at the display:
\n\"DSF2917\"<\/p>\n

48_39<\/strong>
\nThe central element:
\n\"DSF2918\"<\/p>\n

48_40<\/strong>
\nThe churrer\u00c3\u00ada<\/em> on Plaza Monta\u00c3\u00b1eta was doing good business:
\n\"DSF2921\"<\/p>\n

48_41<\/strong>
\nAll over town, shopkeepers and other small businesses like this realty office were decorating:
\n\"DSF2928\"<\/p>\n

48_42<\/strong>
\nThe Esplanada is also very colourful right now, not least this fountain which attracts young and old alike:
\n\"DSF2932\"<\/p>\n

48_43<\/strong>
\n\"DSF2940\"<\/p>\n

48_44<\/strong>
\nAt the Plaza Puerta del Mar, a couple were enjoying the post-sunset sky:
\n\"DSF2942\"<\/p>\n

48_45<\/strong>
\nA heron perching on the surfer statue:
\n\"DSF2947\"<\/p>\n

48_46<\/strong>
\nOn Saturday, as usual, another bike ride, to the villages Aig\u00c3\u00bces and Busot. In Aig\u00c3\u00bces, the lamp post on the square has been decorated for the season:
\n\"1040601\"<\/p>\n

48_47<\/strong>
\n\"1040602\"<\/p>\n

48_48<\/strong>
\n\"1040603\"<\/p>\n

48_49<\/strong>
\nThen on to Busot, where the main attraction was the sky with the fluffy clouds:
\n\"1040605\"<\/p>\n

48_50<\/strong>
\nMerry Christmas in Valenciano:
\n\"1040608\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first week of December was special. I visited Spain’s two biggest cities during the week, Barcelona and Madrid, and I also said goodbye to my son in Madrid airport. Later in the week, I took a long walk in the centre of Alicante to look at the Christmas decorations in my city. 48_1 I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":4205,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4507"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4507"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4520,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4507\/revisions\/4520"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocycle.dk\/paws\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}