A VERY HOT & SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY " DIA DE SANTA ANA " THE PATRON SAINT OF THE VILLAGE.

WEDNESDAY 26^th/ JULY 2017.

I was up early this morning to welcome back little princess ‘ Reina’ for the day, she shot upstairs and ended up on the foot of the bed for a little lie in, she’s back with us on Thursday & Friday morning, ‘Chispa’ will come calling later to check out who’s here in ‘Doggy World Heaven’ On Friday morning ‘ Chico’ is back with us for a sleep over until Sunday evening.

After freshening up we had our breakfast ‘ Crispy Smoked Bacon Butties ‘ with mugs of strong tea, we are taking things easy for the day, this evening we are going up to ‘ Bar Rojas’ for supper and to follow the ‘ Santa Ana Festival’ procession followed by the two bands on the stages, at the moment the crews are setting up and sound checking, into the mid-night hours, with lots of singing, dancing and drinking!

It started grey & overcast but the sun is now braking through and the sky is clearing, it’s very hot & clammy, overnight it was humid & hot, it’s due to reach 30 degs by lunchtime, as the week goes on its getting hotter by the day, over the weekend it’s going to be 33 degs+ Next week is staying the same, getting a little warmer, watch this space.

Last night after supper we went up to ‘ Bar Castillo’ and managed to get a table at the far end so as we could see and listen to the  ‘ Manilva Brass Band Concert’ later; first on the stage was the crowning of the various ‘ Feria Queens ‘ by age, from young to old.

See the pictures above.

Then the ‘ Manilva Brass Band ‘ came on stage led by Fernando, the head of the School of Music, he was on crutches as he broke his ankle over the weekend, so he had to sit on a raised, swivel chair to conduct the Band, as you can see in the pictures below.

We are wondering who is going to lead the Band this evening in the procession, it could be our friend ‘Paco’ ( Ringo!) who is the oldest member of the band, he was the drummer ( hence his name!) and does conduct the Band from time to time, he did one of the numbers last night, they played a mixed concert from Cole Porter’s ‘ Beguin the Begiune’  The House of the Raising Sun ‘ to Beethoven’s 5^th Sinonia & Mambo’!

Later as we were sat taking in the balmy evening Andy & Maria came along and joined us for a drink, he’s still working at the ‘ Manilva Green Aparthotel’ as a night porter/day time waiter in the pool bar, Carlos came along after finishing work as a Bar Manager along the coast in Alcaidesa, then his cousin, Tom and his girlfriend Ayshea, stopped for a chat, Tom is a semi-professional golfer.

A memory from the past; back in 1965 I drank my first  " Gran Cru Classe "  Champagne when I found in the old cellars of the ' Stork Hotel' in Liverpool 12 bottles of the 1959 vintage ' Krug ' not on the stock records! It's ' Biscuit Cracker ' Dry and an acquired taste. Over the year we have been priviliged to drink all the 17 " Gran Cru Classes's" - not all at once !! Happy memories- just !! 

See below a pictures of the ‘Anglian Cathedral’ in Liverpool taken last night, its’ the biggest Cathedral in the UK and the longest in the World, and took over 74 years to build, the ‘ Peal ‘ of 13 bells are the highest and heaviest ringing peal on the World, it was designed by Giles Gilbert Scoot ( A Roman Catholic!) – he also designed the ‘K6 Red Telephone Box’ that I featured in yesterdays Blog, there is one inside the Cathedral in his memory! My mother and I were confirmed, together, by the then ‘ Bishop of Liverpool ‘ Clifford Martin back in 1956!

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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