ESTEPONA

Mon/Tues/Wed.29th,30th,31st Jan.
Spent Monday on site, a quiet day, updated the blog for the weekend
and did some washing and tried to get it dry in between the showers,
the storms seem to have settled down now and there have been some
sunny spells, the sun is warm when it does come out.
Tues.morning went to Carrefour and came back with the usual two bags
on my back, plus filling the boxes on the scooter and got back before the
rain started again and on Wed. had an appointment at the dentist in the
morning but had to get a taxi as it was too wet for the scooter, it rained
all through the night.By lunchtime it had cleared up and was sunny,we
walked along the front and went to the open air gym, it,s quite pleasant
to exercise overlooking the sea and it's free!! then went to the square
for al fresco lunch and a beer and sat watching a film crew performing.

MANILVA

Sun 28th Jan.
Rained all day after a night of storms ,thunder and lightening and torrential
rain not as bad as the one we experienced in San Sebastian but bad enough.
Many beaches have been wrecked with the gales.
In the afternoon we had been invited to Mano and Ann's grandchild's 1st Birthday,
which was held at Carlos and Anna's home, actually it was in the garage underneath
the three storey appartment they have. The garage is big enough to be a supermarket, the floor is beautifully tiled and it is shared with Anna's brother who has the other side of the property, it also has access to their parents house which is
in the next street, the properties meet together. Anyway they had a Bouncy Castle
a D.J. who was an Indian friend of Mano and Ann and all the kids from the village
of Manilla with Parents. Mano was on the B.B.Q /doing kebabs, chicken, beef and
choriza ones and lomo (Pork Fillet) on small baguettes, they had a whole cured ham
to slice and there was a long tresil table set with plates of gamba's, sliced cheeses,
salads etc. and finally a huge birthday cake was cut. (see picture of baby Fabio with
proud parents Carlos and Anna after the cake cutting).

ESTEPONA

Sat 27th Jan.
A grey and overcast day with thunder and rain - for the first time in six weeks,
so we are having a quiet day in.Brenda is sewing all her bargins from the
market and Carrefort.We are now on line with Skype which just amazing and
have been calling all over the world from Colwyn Bay to Australia ! Skype to
Skype calls are free,so if you are on Skype please let us know! and all other
calls to landlines and mobiles are very cheap.Expect a call !!

ESTEPONA

Fri 26th Jan.
First thing in the morning we serviced the Winnebago the went down to
Estepona for the shopping and then dropped off in the square for a spot
of lunch -sat outside in the sun! Later on we carried on with our attempt
to go on line with Skype and update the blog page and our e-mails.

ESTEPONA

Thurs 25th Jan.
Whilst we were out on Wednesday we found the large outdoor market
in Estepona and as usual we ( Brenda) found some bargins as well as
the fresh local fruit and vegetables.The travel books that we ordered on
Monday arrived in the post to the site and are very good -we went on
line and the sites we are planning to visit on our way back towards
France later in the year look excellent.

ESTEPONA

Wed 24th Jan.
We shot down to Estepona first thing in the morning as Brenda had an
appointment at the dentists but it was very cold on the scooter as the sun
was only just coming out . I had spotted a old fashioned barbers shop so
we called in and i had a wash,cut and blow dry for the first time in six months
together with a style cut to help with the pony tail ! It is still growing !! We have
also ordered some new guide books for our future travels,which we are able
to have sent to us at the site as we now have a permanent address.

ESTEPONA

Tues 23rd Jan.
The TV engineers arrived on a bright sunny morning so the new TV mast was
fitted by lunch time and we are now able to watch Spanish and GibraltarTV
but will have to wait for the gardener to cut down some of the tree in front of
the sat-dish to watch Sky! We then went for a light tapas lunch in the marina
and on the way home picked up some gambas for later.We received a text
message from Jo in North Wales saying that her school had been on Radio
One-live so we went on Google and saw all her friends,some of which we
recognised.Jo who was ill in bed also managed to get on Scott Mills program
as well !

ESTEPONA

Mon 22nd Jan.
Monday was our first grey day with a light shower in five week's so we
stayed on site and caught up with e-mail's and blog.The TV mast arrived
by courier from Oxford via the USA and we arranged for a local repair on
Tuesday.The new awning will be fixed at Dudleys on our MOT/ service
visit at the end of July.

ESTEPONA

Sun 21st Jan.
We went for Sunday lunch to the old part of Estepona to a fish restaurant we
had spotted last week- it was closed ! so we ended up in a restaurant in the
square and an excellent lunch of grilled Turbot and a whole leg of Roast Baby
Lamb ( next time i must take some mint sauce !!) Watch out for more pictures
as we have now set up the camcorder to our blog page,we are also going to
go online for our phone calls with Skype once we have downloaded it.

ESTEPONA

Sat 20th Jan.
After a late start we set off to Estepona on the hottest day so far and spent
some time at the free open air gym on the front and Brenda went for a paddle
in the sea,then we went to the marina for a drink before coming back to the
site where we had dinner and watched a dvd.During the day we have made
our plans for the next couple of months,we are going to hire a car for 2/3 days
at a time and go on to trips to Gibraltar,Sevilla,Cadiz,Granada,and Cordoba
and also a trip across to Tanger on the hydrofoil and stay for the night.

ESTEPONA

Fri 19th Jan .
Another beautiful day started with us servicing the Winnebago before the
weekend.We also received this morning a text message from Joel Painot
our friend from the garage in Lucon who is on his winter holidays- he has a
BMW motorcycle and sidcar combo set up for winter conditions..The text
was from Nordkapp in Norway,which on checking is the northern most
place in Europe and is within the Artic Circle and also within site of the
Northern Lights! As we were about to set off a couple spoke to us,it
turned out they are experienced RV owners and had come to the site
to see if there was any space for their Winnebago Brave.John and Joan
Bates are from the Isle of Man and during a cup of tea they were very
helpfull with sorts of info,re sites in Northern Spain .We then went to
Estepona marina for a late Tapas lunch in the Cafe./Bar Halomon.
,

ESTEPONA

Mon/Tues/Wed/Thurs.15th/16th.17th/18th Jan.
Monday was a overcast day so we stayed at the site and cleaned the Winnebago
and had a sort out of the cupboards etc. On Tuesday we went shopping at the
Hypermarket outside Estepona and on Wednesday Brenda had her appoitment
at the dentists, then we had a fish lunch( John Dory ) on the front in the hot sun.
Thursday was another sunny day so we went down to the beach for a walk .

ESTEPONA

Thurs/Fri/Sat/Sun.11th,12th,13th,14th Jan.
Thursday was another sunny day so we went to Estepona on the scooter,
which is now going a bomb again and after a spot of lunch in the square
we walked up thru the old town to The Church of Our Lady of Redemption
in the Plaza San Francisco which is a beautiful area overlooking the old
town.On Friday we found by chance a dentist in the centre of Estepona
who saw Brenda right away and have made an appointment for next
Wednesday.Saturday was shopping day at Carrefort,we came back
rather slow as the scooter was fully loaded and so was Brenda with two
bags on her back! Sunday was the first day that it has been overcast in
the last month as we went to Sabrinillas to the market then back to the
Marina in Estepona.see picture below which was taken with the cam-
corder.

ESTEPONA

Sun 14th Jan.

ESTEPONA

Wed 10th Jan.
It started off as a sunny day,we had arranged to go to Sabinillas for lunch as
Brenda had made an appointmant at the English dentist for a check up-but
it ended up as a " Helluva Day " We set off on the scooter via Estepona but
as we hit the N-340 on the fast dual carriageway on a up-hill part the scooter
spluttered to a holt ! After many attempts to re-start it because we were in a
dangerous position we had to push it over 3 kms along the side of the road
untill we reached the next junction and the safety of a petrol station ! The
locals at the petrol station where very helpfull but with no luck so we had to
call for help-Mano ! He called Juan and he came in his van and took the
scooter up to the garage in Manilva which we had our BMW checked at
the last time we were here. The problem was the spark-plug! By now it was
dark so we had to come back in the dark and cold to the site on the other
side of Estepona,cold,hungry and thirsty !

ESTEPONA

Mon/Tues-8th/9th Jan
We are settling into our routine of going out on the scooter to Estepona
and have found a open air gym on the front which is free so we have
started some exersise at long last ! The site has now gone quiet after
the holidays and the pool is due to open shortly as the weather goes
warmer although it is indoors.

ESTEPONA

Sun 7th Jan.
We went to the Sunday market at Sabrillinos near Manilva
which is a huge outdoor market consisting of all types of stalls,
bric-a-brac, African stalls, country fruit and vegetables etc.
oranges 5 kilos x €2,clementines and lemons much the same,
thats about all we brought apart from a red Tommy Hilfiger shirt.
Then went up the hill to call on Mano and Ann and eventually back
along the coast on the scooter before the sun went down.
The picture below is taken at Laguna Village Beach Club.

ESTEPONA

ESTEPONA

Sat 6th Jan.
The morning started with the weekly chores of servicing the Winnebago, then we
took it easy for the rest of the day as we had planned a night out in Estepona with
Mano,Ann,Juan and Amelia. We went in a taxi to the old town of Estepona where
the street's are very narrow,to a famous restaurant called " Robbie's ". It is totally
over the top!,with photo's of movie stars all over the walls and memorabilia in every
corner and hanging from the ceiling ,the food is also very good ! We ended up in
the Marina area at the hot music bar " Reinaldo's dancing the night away.

ESTEPONA

Fri 5th Jan.
Shopping day today as Saturday is a bank holiday in Spain for the celebration of
the three Kings,its like xmas day all over again. We went to the Carrefour hyper-
market in Estepona on the scooter so coming back was a balancing act with
Brenda with two bags on her back and the scooter full as well! In the afternoon
we went down to the beach and made our way along the coast calling in to our
favourite spot's and finishing up at the Mai Tai bar for a happy hour cocktail.

ESTEPONA

Thurs 4th Jan
It was another beautiful day today, didn't have any plans so after
mundane jobs such as washing (we do have washing machines
and a drier on site) we hit the road on the scooter, and headed
into Estepona centre.after a tour around the old town discovering
the old narrow streets we went to the main square for a light lunch
but had a most enjoyable meal, I had fried Monkfish and Malcolm
had a flattened chicken breast just simple but very good and sat
in the sun.We then had a few stops along the front and walked
along the beach in a quiet part of the coast enjoying the weather.

ESTEPONA

Wed 3rd Jan.
Today is the best day so far this year ! The sun is out and hot,so we are going out
for lunch in the old fish port of Estepona and we do not need our jackets on -for
the scooter.We went to La Escollera,a fish resraurant on the beach and had a super
meal of a whole bream,grilled and fried Haddock with the house rose.

ESTEPONA

Wed 3rd Jan.

ESTEPONA

Tues 2nd Jan.
Another sunny day in Estspona so in the morning we serviced the Winnebago
and caught up with the housekeeping jobs.In the afternoon we went for a ride
on the scooter to Estepona town and went down to the old port and the marina.
We stopped for a couple of drinks in bars that we remembered from our last
time here. In the evening we stayed in and had some fresh caught gambas for
supper.

ESTEPONA

Mon 1st Jan 2007.
A very happy new year to all !
The sun is out and it is hot with blue skies and sea. After a late rise we went out to the Laguna Beach Puro Bar and Restaurant for brunch which was very good,we
finished up in the Mai Tai bar for the happy hour.!

ESTEPONA

Sun 31st. Dec.New Year's Eve.
A hot and sunny day in Estepona as can be seen from the picture of the Winnebago
parked up on the site.We had a quiet day and popped out in the afternoon for a
couple of drink's at the White Bar at Laguna Village as the sun set.In the evening,we
had a few drinks in the Winnebago as due to some illness in the family of Mano and
Ann we where unable to join them .At midnight we watched a spectacular fire works
display and our German neighbours came in for a few drinks to celabrate the New
Year.