ONE HELLUVA WEEKEND IN MANILVA.

MONDAY 12TH APRIL 2010.

On Friday morning we went down to the supermarket for the weekend shopping and at the same time picked up the two Legs of Lamb from the English butchers; the weather at the moment is OK but with a little wind it can get a bit crisp in the evening, the village is back to it’s normal tranquil self as we settle back into life in Manilva. In the evening we had for supper Baked Soles which we picked up at the fish market in the village earlier in the week with some local new potatoes and garden peas.

As we got up on Saturday morning we decided to go for a walk around the village to see what had been going on; the work on the new Wine Center is coming along, at the moment the electricians are finishing off; a couple of new little shops have opened, small general stores which open all hours, the work on the church which seems to go on for ever, but you can’t see any difference and at the top of the main street they have knocked down some old buildings and widened the corner, which was very dangerous, and at the same time they are putting in a small water feature. We ended up down at the sports hall and watched the under 12s girls basketball, they are very committed and play on the full size court, sorry to say that Manilva got beat! We then strolled across to the football ground and watched the seven a side football, two matches take place at the same time, across the main pitch, they are local teams from the bars and business’s in the area and the football is very exciting as it is played from end to end, Afterwards we then walked down to Mano and Ann’s house at the other end of the village, past the house’s that collapsed after the storms, we caught up with all the village gossip and made arrangements for our Sunday lunch; Anna calls in all the time to our house so we exchange books and so on.
When we got back we could not watch the Grand National, as we don’t have English TV, so I followed it on BBC news on the laptop, it was a great result, I had been telling Anna that it would be very special if Tony McCoy did win, he has been the champion jockey for the past 14 years and has ridden in the race 15 times, so it was very emotional when he finally won on Don’t Push It! The trainer Jonjo O’Neill,my hero when he was riding, took part in the race seven times and never finished and the owner J.P. McManus who’s horse’s in the past had won everything, like Tony McCoy, won for the first time, a treble !!

Later in the evening after dinner, steak and chips with all the trimmings, we then watched the live football which was the biggest match of the year in Spain,Real Madrid v Barcelona, it does not start until 10-00pm local time and the stadium holds 80,000 thousand people, at the start of the match they were joint top of the league, the coverage is on all the channels and the atmosphere is electric in Madrid; Barcelona won 2 nil and Messi scored,it means they they go three points clear at the top,

After a lie in on Sunday morning we prepared the Sunday lunch, in fact dinner, as Mano and Anna, who had bought the Lamb, joined us at 7-00pm,as arranged, we have put one Leg of Lamb away for another time, The Lamb was studded with Garlic cloves and Rosemary, Brenda as usual had prepared Cauliflower and Broccoli Mornay,Braised Leeks with Mushrooms, Cabbage and Spanish Spring greens and Baby Carrots with Garden Pears, meanwhile I made Boulangere Potatoes and Herb Roasted New Potatoes and a rich finger coating Rosemary pan gravy ! Mano brought a fine Rioja ,which was enjoyed by all and we all had a relaxing sit down afterwards as we put the world to rights, great company, great friends and a great time was had by all, another treble !!