A GREY & OVERCAST 'BREEZY' START TO THE DAY HERE IN SUNNY MANILVA.

THURSDAY 29^th/ MARCH 2018.    " MAUNDY THURSDAY "

We were both up early this morning and after a quick freshen up we  set off on our travels down to Sabinillas for the weekly shopping, I called into ‘Mercadona’ for our main shop and my able ‘ Assistant’ walked along to the ‘ English Bookshop ‘ for some birthday cards, watch out it could be you! She then carried on to the ‘Ferreterias’ for two light bulbs, we then met up and set off down the coast road to Pueblo de Guardiaro, by Sotogrande, to go to ‘ Iceland’ for lots of ‘English’ essentials & goodies, sadly it was not open, despite it not being a ‘English’ Bank Holiday?!

We then came back to Sabinillas and stopped at ‘Super Sol’ for a few ‘English’ essentials, before coming back up through the vine fields to unload back at the house, the village is ‘ dead’ as it’s an un-official ‘Bank Holiday’ here in Spain, tomorrow is, for ‘ Semana Santa’ - but all the offices/banks are closed early, the ‘ Contractors’ have stopped work until Monday.

After our regular toast & tea we sorted ourselves out for the weekend ahead, in ‘ Doggy World Heaven’ we have ‘ Bo’ – the gentle giant, returning for the short holiday this evening, he’s with us until Sunday afternoon, ‘Chispa’ is as usual calling in all the time, next week we only have little princess ‘ Reina’ for one day, as Lee & Daniela are taking some holiday days owed.


See below, ' Little ' Bo !

The local ‘Brotherhoods’ have announced the routes, through the top of the village, for ‘ Semana Santa’ - this evening it’s my Brotherhood ‘ Jesus de Nazareno’ late parade, then on ‘ Good Friday’ the two parades could be cancelled, due to the threat of rain, on Sunday, at the moment, it’s dry, so the last two main parades will take place, watch this space, as I will try and get some pictures!

                                                   My ' Medallion ' of the ' Jesus Nazareno ' Brotherhood.

See above the pictures that I took last night as we were watching the ‘TV’ – there is a dedicated channel for Andalucia, that shows the full coverage of all the parades, in all the main towns, including total coverage of the main ‘Malaga’ celebrations, that take place along ‘Calle Larios’ into the ‘ Plaza de Constitucion’ then towards the Cathedral, as you can see, the various ‘Tronos’ (Floats) are very large, with all the ‘ Brotherhoods’ out in all their regalia, the ’haze’ is the incense burning!

 Our ‘ Tronos’ here in the village are a lot smaller! On ‘ Good Friday’ the ladies of the village parade in their finest Black Court Dresses with the long Black Lace ‘Mantillas’ in their hair. See below, from last year.

This morning has started grey & overcast with a stiff breeze, the sky is cloudy with no sign of the sunshine braking through, the temperature is down to 17/18 degs, then the wet stuff hits us again tomorrow, over the weekend, including ‘ Easter’ Sunday, at the moment, it’s staying dry & sunny, but still cooler, then from Monday and all of next week we are in for more of the ‘ wet stuff’ with a vengeance again, watch this space.

For our supper this evening we are having the rest of the ‘ Beef & Mushroom Curry’ with Basmati Rice & twice-cooked ‘ Chips’ – for our ‘Good Friday’ night ‘ Fish’ supper it’s going to be ‘Fish’n Chips’ ( Hake) with ‘Mushy’ Peas, as the local market catch this morning was not very good, there was only one very large ‘ Rodaballo – Turbot’ and no ‘Linguado - Sole’ ! On Saturday we have two very nice ‘Fillet Steaks ‘ – for ‘Tournados Rossini ‘  and then on ‘Easter’ Sunday we are having a ‘Roast Loin of English Pork ‘ with Crackling, with a selection of local fresh vegetables and of course ‘ Goose-Fat’ Roast Potatoes!

Earlier this week, on Tuesday, over in Malaga, the World’s biggest and most expensive ever cruise liner, The ‘Symphony of the Seas’ was setting sail on its maiden voyage, it’s 1,1888 feet long, weighs 228,000 tonnes and has 8,000 passengers! – as you can see below!!

Over the ‘ Bank Holiday ‘ weekend we will watching the TV and catching all the sport, as well as films & series.

Thought for the Day; See above.

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