MANILVA THIS WEEKEND.

SATURDAY/SUNDAY 21^st/22^nd  MAY 2011.

After our breakfast of Poached Eggs on toast we went for a walk with Cheta,the sun was out and as the day went on it got hotter and hotter with just a little light breeze. At lunchtime as I was checking out the e-mails Brian came online on Skype so we ended up having a long chat with him as he sat in the garden in Pori; the video connection was clear as we caught up with all their news including Lilli having her hair dyed Red ! Brian  as well as going to school full time to learn Finnish has been working on a web page for the business which reminded me that we have a web page which Jo,Tim’s daughter set up before we left, it is called sextonstravels-piczo ! I will have to spend some time on it to learn how to update and use it – a future project. In the evening we had Steak and Chips for dinner, we had bought the steak from our local butcher, as normal, it was one of the nicest pieces of Steak a la Plancha that we have had; we had Sauté Onions,Mushrooms,Tomato and local whole Green Beans washed down with a fine Rioja before we strolled up to Bar Rojas for a nightcap.

On Sunday morning we awoke to the finest day so far this year, clear blue skies, sun and no breeze so it was over 30degs by lunchtime ! We walked down to the polling station to vote for the first time in Spain; the system soon clicked in as we showed our documents and they found us on the electoral role, you then pick the party that you are voting for and place their document in an envelope and drop it into the box, no cross needed ! We then came back and picked Cheta up and walked down to Bodega Agustin for a Paella lunch, they have a fresh one made on a Sunday and it is the place at the moment for Tapas;sadly we had a not very nice, in fact a terrible Paella, it was dry, no taste, no Prawns or visible seafood, very small pieces of hard meat and the ration portion is expensive. Brenda told them as we payed,at the same time other customers, Spanish, were saying the same thing about it, we have been before and Mano and Anna go there every Sunday and it has always been very good – watch this space as we chase them up on another day when it is not so busy and we can talk to the lady cook and get the point across !

In the afternoon Brenda shot up to the roof terrace and I caught up and watched the sport; the Volvo Match play Golf from Finca Cortesin in the next valley was won by Ian Poulter when he beat Luke McDonald,the Grand Prix from Barcelona was won by Vettel who just piped Hamilton,menwhile the Giro D’Italia was in the third stage in the mountains, Contador was second twice and then third as he saw off his rivals and increased his overall lead. I then went on the live BBC Sport Text page and watched as all the final Premier league matches taking place; lots of goals and surprise’s as the relegation was decided, Everton beat Chelsea ( Big Brian over in Pori was very happy ) and then Ancelotti,the Chelsea manager was axed ! Manchester City also won ( Carlos going mad) so they were third in the league and so go into the Champions League group stage but sadly no European place next season for Liverpool ! After a light supper of Pan Fried flattened Chicken Breast and salad we walked down to the Election centre to watch the count and get the result; it was very tense and Spanish ( Loud ) as the counting took place, at one stage it was also very close but in the end Antonia’s party, the IU,won and she is back in power for another four years ! Time for the celebrations to start as you can see in the pictures below !! On the way back to the house we stopped at Bar Rojas for a nightcap to end another great weekend in Sunny Manilva.

Thought for the Day ;

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.

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