At the last #PYPT show in the Dreamport Discord, hosted by 
As you probably guessed from the first two photos, the topic is benches! I was following most of the monthly topics, and you found it hard to join some of them... For this one, you don't have excuses! I saw some very creative posts on it, and I didn't even realize how many different benches we have found around... Some created on purpose, some in need, and some spontaneous...
As there are no worse views than those of broken benches by hooligans and no-lifers, I prefer those who are made to last! In this post, I will share with you these simple, white concrete benches (and some bonus ones too), painted by a talented street artist!
When I saw the first benches, I thought someone had painted them spontaneously, but when I saw the signature "LExtremadouro", I decided to make a research about it... First results weren't promising as I was "redirected" to Extremadura, which is the name of one part of Spain... 馃槀 But, on my insisting on the exact term, I found out that the signature belongs to the Galician painter Lola Extremadouro!
She was born in Vigo, Galicia, Spain, but has been living in Calpe for over 10 years now... She loves the Mediterranean Sea, and to give back to her new hometown, she asked for permission to paint these benches... In 2023, she got approval to do so, she grabbed her brushes and paint, and began with the job in November that year... If you want more details about her and her work, check out the short news on the Calp city website blogpost...
As you can see, she picked a Mediterranean theme for these decorations: fish, octopuses, oranges, lemons, and other citrus fruits
I'm not sure if that was the initial plan, but Lola took the liberty of painting some of the light poles on the promenade too!!!
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She stayed inside the topic, with citrus fruits and sea creatures... 馃槂
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Back to OUR main topic... Benches...
Among these concrete benches, there was the city's hashtag and 2 weird benches... At first sight, it does look a bit unnatural to see this among the super-artistic work by Lola, but the message that comes from this sign deserves to stick out...
These two benches and the sign were made from collected plastic FROM the sea, or to make it clearer, made from plastic trash thrown into the sea by irresponsible humans!
So, when you put your bum on this recycled plastic bench, you should think about where you will throw your plastic waste next time! 馃槂
At the end of the sea promenade, there was a small garden/park with drinking water and a few benches to take a rest...
This one was a bit different, made of iron and pretty robust too! As a matter of fact, I "tested" this one... 馃槂 I used it to cool down and to have my morning sandwich... After a long seaside walk, I needed a few minutes to recover...
The iron bench was much more comfortable than these standard wooden benches that I found on my way back to the city center... Nothing special, but they do serve their need... On my walk, I saw over a dozen of them, but only these two were empty!
That would be all for this "bench walk" around Calpe, Spain! Will you join this super-easy initiative and share some benches from your surroundings? I took all these photos on my walk around Calpe today, so it's not a difficult task. And to be honest, I never paid attention on how many benches are all around me!
Thank you for your time.
--ph--
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