A BEAUTIFUL, WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON THURSDAY " ANDALUCIA DAY "

THURSDAY 28^th/ FEBRUARY 2019.    “ DIA DE ANDALUCIA “

We had a nice long lie in this morning as the village is quieter than normal as it’s a ‘ Bank Holiday’ for the ‘ Andalusia Day ‘ – celebrating and commemorating the referendum on February 29^th back in 1980 when the Andalusian electorate voted to be an autonomous community.

After freshening up as I was on the breakfast rota we had ‘ Toasted Crispy Smoked Bacon Butties’ – open on brown for Brenda – smothered with ‘ HP ‘ Brown sauce- with mugs of strong/hot Tea. The toast is lightly toasted and topped with lots of Butter, the ‘Spanish Streaky Bacon’ is cooked-off very crisp, placed on the toasted bread, topped with the brown sauce and cut into four!

This morning the sun was out very early above the Mediterranean ( see below) – the sky is bright blue and clear, there is no breeze, so we have a very beautiful day here in sunny Manilva, by lunchtime it’s due to reach 22 degs+ - tomorrow and over the weekend we are in for more of the same, next week is now looking a little cooler as the breeze pick up and brings with it a new ‘Atlantic’ front, hovering in the high ‘ teens, with the threat back in the air of the ‘ wet-stuff’ – watch this space.

See this morning's sunrise over the Mediterranean.

Meanwhile over in Everett, Ontario, Canada, it’s very cold with lots of snow, down to minus-28 degs!  See below the front and back of the folks house this morning!!  ‘ Take care when you are out & about Sandra & Bill ‘

Yesterday evening we went down to ‘ Calle Andrades’ at the bottom of our street, along to the ‘ Barios Andrades’ as the ‘Council’ were unveiling a wall plaque in memory of ‘ Juan Luque Gonzalez’ the first ‘ Chief of Police ‘ – he was the father of our friend Araceli, her brother, Paco’ is now the ‘ Chief of Police’ – her mother, his widow, is still alive and lives with her. The’ Council’ had earlier put new floor/wall plants in the ‘Plaza’ before the ‘ Council’ water-wagon washed down all our streets in the small area around us!

See the pictures below;

                                                                    'Paco' in the center in the brown jumper !

                                                                                               The ' Gonzalez Family '

                                                                      Araceli in the red and her mother in the centre!

After our breakfast we walked down to the large multi-purpose ‘ Pabellon’ down by the sports complex to watch the arrival of the ‘ Manilva Brass Band’ – then inside all the speeches, the playing of the Andalucian Anthem, then the rising of the ‘ Flag’ by Mario, the Mayor. This usually takes place on a stage in front of the Town Hall, it would have been the first time in the new ‘ Calle Mar’ We asked Mario why?! He said it was because all the local Bars are closed?! 

Sadly ‘Bar Rojas’ is now closed again, ‘Nacho’s Cafe ‘ is on holiday as well as ‘Cafe Plaza’ – ‘Bar Luque’  was not open, ‘Bar Ocana’ is not back open until the 1^st April, so the only one open is ‘ Bar Castillo’ – were Juan is doing a roaring business!

See above some pictures from this morning;

For our supper this evening we are having my traditional large pan of “ Lob Scouse “ as today it’s ‘ Global Scouse Day ‘ - yesterday’s  ‘ Beef & Vegetable Stew’ with diced/boiled Potatoes added- then re-heated up until they fall and thicken up the Scouse, which always tastes better on the second day! Served with local Cabbage with Acelgas and Shredded Pickled Red Cabbage of course!

Just a quick update on the mid-week football results; over in the ‘ Premier League’ Liverpool beat Watford 5-0 & Manchester City won 1-0 against West Ham, over here in the Second-Leg of the Semi-Finals of the ‘ Cope Del Rey ‘ Barcelona beat Rea Madrid 0-3 and go into their sixth consecutive Final!

Another update, this time about ‘ Doggy World Heaven’ – which has been very quiet at the start of the New Year, ‘ Chispa’ is still coming in & out all the time, in fact she joined us for breakfast this morning! ‘Chico’ is back with us for a long-week, the week after next. The other day ‘ Charlie’ called into to see us as he was passing with Brian, he was his usual happy self, ‘Charlie’ not Brian! Watch this space.

This afternoon/evening we will be channel hopping to find something to watch.

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.