MANILVA

Saturday 26th January.
We woke to a grey day with a little wind so we stayed in and caught up with the house chores and Brenda did some washing as I made some appointments to see various apartments on Monday and Tuesday next week.We went out down to the English butchers in Dequesa marina and bought two very nice steaks for supper,
Sunday 27th January.
After a light breakfast we had a phone call from the person who is interested in us for house sitting and he suggested that we go and have a look at the area,which was what we were going to do on Friday before the puncture,so we set off past Marbella and up into the high Sierras on the road to Coin and Cartama.The weather became very warm and sunny and the views of the mountainsquite spectacular,When we arrived in Estascion Cartama the local market was on so Brenda soon hit the friut and vegetables stalls and also we did some shopping from the clothes stalls as well! The whole area is covered in Blossom trees in full bloom,with large “Finca's” and vegetable farms growing all sorts of fruit and vegetables,all very Spanish and a million miles away from the coast! We then went up the side of a valley towards Pizarra and found the very pretty railway station at Aljaima which is close to the “Finca's”that we could end up house sitting! On the way back down past Cartama we stopped at “Venta Los Cabales” for a drink which is a typical road side venta but we soon discovered that it had more to offer! We had a rather special late Sunday lunch of homemade Potato Croquettes, a leg of Roast Baby Lamb and the largest Brochette of local Chicken we have ever seen all washed down with the local Tinto Rioja,and it cost half of what it costs down on the coast!
Monday 28th January.
Over the weekend we had spotted in the local paper an advert for couples to help in a “Customer Experience” staff training program for Marriott Hotels and in return they reward you with a choice of complimentary stays,Beauty treatments or dining in selected retaurants,so I shot off a E-mail and we are waiting for the reply!We then went out to view various apartments in the area on this side of Estepona including 2.3 bedrooms,3 bedroom town houses and a 2 bedroomed Penthouse suite all fully furnished and equipped to a very high standard and all with balconies or terraces with sea/mountain views-the Penthouse turned out to be the least expensive!! We have more to see over the next two dayson the other side of Estepona and down in the marina.On the way back we called into the site to check the Winnebago and say hello to Vidal and Gissy and bring them up to date with all our news
Tuesday 29th January.
Today we viewed more apartments in Estepona marina and then in the Manilva area we saw a very nice 2 bedroomed duplex overlooking the sea and an apartment up in the hills.We had a drink in the marina as it is very warm and sunny,We have made lots of contacts with Spanish and English agents and we will take things forward in the next couple of weeks as we also plan to try and sell the Winnebago locally or on the internet before we have it taken to Oxford to sell.Watch this space yet again!Another thing we have found out about the apartments is that they all have underground parking and some have storage rooms as well as 24hr security.Marriott hotels have just replied and have asked us to go to a presention on Thursday afternoon! We are also going to meet during the next two days the man about house sitting in Cartama and on Thursday evening we are going to a birthday party for Carlos's son Fabio who is two.