MANILVA OVER THE WEEKEND.

SATURDAY/SUNDAY 31st MARCH/1st APRIL 2012.

The weather has changed; well it is Semana Santa, so it is overcast and a little cooler with the threat of some showers over the weekend; we went for a quick walk on Saturday morning and then settled in for the day. At lunchtime I started to watch the football in the office on the large PC, the connection was very good and the early match was Manchester City v Sunderland – the final result was 3-3 but Sunderland were leading 3-1 at one time, City did not play well and are loosing their bottle ! Sorry Carlos. Everton had another great win 2-0 against West Brom and Brain over in snowy Pori is starting to get excited! In the evening both Real and Barca won so no change at the top of ‘ La Liga ’ On Saturday evening down in Sabinillas it was the opening ceremony of a new Camping/Parking site just along the coast on the beach; on Friday I tried to get an invite with Mayor and Councillors but it was invite only by the owners, who actually are British ! It is called ‘ Bella Vista ’and is one of the finest sites in Europe i.e. ‘ Location, Location, Location ’ It was the reason we headed down here all those years ago but in fact as we arrived in the Winnebago it closed the day before ! The rest is history as they say !! They have now completely re-designed the site and built a new two story building with Solar heating and lighting for the reception,restaurant,services,laundry,showers etc.It has two pools and children’s playground with sports facilities and beach bar and of course direct excess to the beach – one thing in Spain that is very good is that all the beaches remain open to the public with access – even the five star hotels on the beach ! It has 144 pitches with computer controlled water, electricity and services along with Wi-Fi. The Manilva Brass Band played,Flamneco dancers performed,Manilva wine flowed, cocktails and buffet followed and then a Firework display and DJ to end the evening with a bang ! After supper of Steak and Chips with all the trimmings we then watched the late film “ State of Play from 2009. it is a political thriller and is an adaptation of the six part British television series of the same name; it stars Russell Crowe,Ben Affleck,Helen Mirren and Rachel McAdams and it has been condensed into the two hour film format and is now based in Washington. It’s one to catch.

On Sunday morning we freshened ourselves up and put on our Sunday ‘ Best ’ and then walked down to Santa Ana Church with the rest of the village to follow the procession and tableau; after the mass and the blessing of the Palms the ‘ La Borriquita ’is raised and carried out to the sound of the welcome march from the band, the crowds clap and it then starts to head up through the village to Calle Mar. This year one of the men carrying the tableau was Francisco Ana Mari’s brother and his daughter was one of the servers leading the procession, one of our neighbors had both of her small children in the White costumes and another neighbor’s eldest son was carrying the tableau for the first time. The pictures below give you just a little taste of the day; as we were walking we bumped into Tim’s friends John and Wendy who live down on the coast on the way to Estepona, they are both from North Wales,Llandudno and St. Asaph, and so we caught up with all their news as we had not seen them since last year when Tim and Thea where here. We ended up back at the house for nibbles and drinks and we are going to get together again for Sunday lunch in the not to distant future. Later in the afternoon I watched the Liverpool v Newcastle game, Liverpool lost 2-0 and played terrible again, Carroll was taken off and Pepe Raina was sent off and will miss the semi-final against Everton – it is the worst season in 59 years for them and Kenny’s crown is slipping ! Oh dear the sounds from Pori are getting loud and Big Bri is jumping for joy as Everton are now above then in the Premier League For dinner we had Lamb Cutlets with Boulangere Potatoes and then watched the news and then a late film; I’ve got it on DVD but have never watched it – “ Layer Cake ” is a British crime thriller made in 2004 and has achieved cult status – the cast of Daniel Craig,Colm Meaney.Kenneth Cranham, Jamie Foreman,George Harris,Sienna Miller and the marvelous Micheal Gambon are terrific. The title of the film refers to the human ‘ Social Strata ’ especially in the British criminal underworld as well as the numerous plot layers in the film – a great film and one not to miss – with a surprise ending !


Thought for the Day;


The lure of the distant is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are.


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