MANILVA START OF THE WEEK.

MONDAY 5^th/ TUESDAY 6^th  NOVEMBER 2012.

We took Jane over to Gibraltar first thing in the morning to catch the plane back to Manchester; the sun was out as you can see in the picture below – typical! The forecast for the week and possibly over the weekend is rain, turning to storms by Friday (still 20 degs.) In Cordoba, Jaen and Grenada they have had severe floods over the weekend and the rest of Spain is not much better. The picture below of me with the large carriage men’s umbrella was taken on Saturday morning as we set off on our travels, it means that we only need the one umbrella as we hit the high spots ! I had it made in London back in the 70s for the hotel after seeing the doorman of the Savoy with one – I asked the management where they were made and called in and ordered one the same day ! Everywhere I go in the village I get asked about it and I now have my story ready in Spanish ! We have booked for the trip to Sanlucar de Barrameda on the17th November ( Saturday) – it includes a guided tour around the historic area, a tasting at ‘ Bodega Barbadillo ’ ( Brenda’s local White Wine ) and a factory tour of polovorones?( Marzipan Xmas Cakes - thanks Mano !) No lunch included and lots of free time in the afternoon !Later in the afternoon we watched a very good documentary on the Lebanon – it’s the smallest country in continental Asia and has a rich history which has shaped a cultural identity of religious and ethnic diversity – the scenery was spectacular and especially the capital of Beirut which has been totally rebuilt after the war. In the evening we had cold Lamb with the leftover vegetable and potatoes for supper and then ticked off two more Bond films; “ You Only Live Twice ”from 1967 and “ For Your Eyes Only ”from 1981.

I have finished 50 Shades Darker and Brenda is coming to the climax of 50 Shades Freed now that we are back to reading after all the excitement over the weekend ! Mano and Anna called in the afternoon in between showers as Mano was off work so we had a good catch up. Tonight, Tuesday, we will watch the football, live on TVE1, after dinner – it’s the UEFA Champions League – will Real Madrid beat the Germans and will Manchester City survive against the Dutch ?! For dinner we are having Pork Cutlets with the last of the Boulangere Potatoes, I picked them up this morning from our butchers and at the same time some Braised Steak for tomorrow and Chicken wings for Tapas.Brenda is having a sorting out day as we are in the middle of a heavy rain storm and I’ am going to watch ‘ Saturday Morning Kitchen ’on the BBC IPlayer now!

PS; Both of the games finished 2-2 which means that Utd, will go through but Manchester City's hopes are finished of getting into the last 16 !

The two Bond films were " Licence to Kill " from 1989 with Timothy Dalton in his second and last film as 007 - then it was " The World is not Enough " from 1999 with Piers Brosnan and Robert Carlyle.The film of the week ,so far, is " The Sea Wolves " from 1980 which is based on actual events in World War Two when the old regiment ' The Calcutta Light Horse ' went on a secret mission; they made a covert attack on a German merchant ship which had been transmitting information to U-boats from Mormugao Harbourin in the neutral Portugal's territory of Goa.It has a " Helluva " cast of all the British actors of the time - Roger Moore,David Niven,Trevor Howard,Gregory Peck,Patrick Macnee,Kenneth Griffith,Patrick Allen,Michael Medwin.John Standing.Graham Stark,Donald Houston,Glyn Houston and Barbara Kellerman ! - to name just a few!!

Thought for the Day;

All television is educational television; The question is,what is it teaching ?

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