GUADALMINA/MANILVA OVER THE WEEKEND.

FRIDAY/TUESDAY 2nd/5th/ JUNE 2012.

We went out on Saturday morning after Clive and Carolyn had left for the airport down to Guadalmina to do our weekend shopping; we had a light breakfast in ‘ Tricky Ricky’s ’and then called at the English butchers and treated ourselves to their best Fillet steak for our dinner in the evening; after shopping at the supermarket we shot back to the villa and settled in for the weekend. The three dogs are easy to look after and the cats just come and go as they like, for a change it is nice to follow the English TV so I as able to watch “ Saturday Morning Kitchen ” live ! and in the afternoon we watched the “ Derby ” from Epson – which was also the start of the Queen’s big weekend at the same time ! We have not seen any racing for a long time so most of the jockey’s are new to us including the ‘ Champion Jockey ’! The racecourse was a riot of red, white and blue as the Queen arrived and Katherine Jenkins belted out the National Anthem ! Trainer Aidan O’Brien won his fourth English Classic this season and had the unparalleled thrill of seeing his 19-year-old son Joseph onboard ‘ Camelot ’ produce just 10 days after is 19th birthday a nerveless ride before a crowd of 130,000 on the 8-13 favourite. It was the first time in 233 running’s of the famous race that a father/son,trainer/jockey combination had triumphed. The ‘ Baby-Faced ’ 6ft tall tactician patiently bided his time over the undulating one-and-half mile trip to win by five lengths ! The crowd went mad !! In the race before the ‘ Derby ’ the “ Coronation Cup ” the same combination won !!
In the evening we had the Fillet Steaks pan fried in foaming butter with Mushrooms, Baked Potatoes and salad for supper after having a swim in the pool, they were succulent, tasty and cut like butter. We then watched some documentaries on the Queen with lots of new films and pictures never seen before.

Sunday morning after a little lie in we relaxed and took things easy before getting ready to go out for lunch; the weather is now into the summer mold and the forecast is more of the same and hotter. It was over 32 degs sat on the terrace at ‘ Tricky Ricky’s ’ as we had as usual an excellent value Sunday lunch, I had the Roast Topside of Beef and Brenda had Roast Pork/Lamb with all the trimmings and six vegetables and potatoes with a sauce boat of finger licking gravy ! Just sounds like home !! When we got back to the villa we changed into our ‘ Cosie’s ’and settled down to watch the “ Thames Pageant ” on BBC 1 – Which turned out to be the wrong choice as the BBC devoted much time to’ Inane ’ stunts and interviews with celebrities and the two presenters were un- prepared and had no knowledge about what was going on ! The Sky coverage was just about right as the BBC forgot the word ‘ Gravitas ’ !! At the end of the historic pageant the choir perched on scaffolding on top of a glass roof of the boat as the orchestra played “ Land of Hope and Glory ” took the honor’s as they belted out our favourite Hymn in the teeming rain and where drenched to the skin for their troubles ! We then went for a swim and watched the TV later.

On Monday after our tea and toast we again settled down to another lazy day around the villa in the hot sunshine and in the evening after an early supper we the watched the start of the “ Jubilee ” concert as we had to pick the folks up from the airport in Malaga at11-0pm.In the afternoon the 12,000 invited guests had a pick- nick lunch in the gardens of Buckingham Palace which was prepared by Heston Bluemental. Once again the BBC did not get it quite right and it seems at the end as the incredible firework and light display started they run the programme credits over it ! Oh dear !!

We watched the start of Tuesday’s service of ‘ Thanksgiving ’ from St Paul’s Cathedral at the villa and then when we got home I managed to get the BBC coverage on the large PC; we then followed the “ State Lunch ” at ‘ Westminster Hall ‘’ that was overseen by ‘ Anton Mossimann ’ a name from the past ! The climax of the four – day Jubilee was the carriage procession back along the Mall and the Queen and the Royal family out on the famous balcony of the palace as the fly-past of the Lancaster Bomber,Spitfires and Hurricane along with the ‘ Red Arrows ’ passed overhead. The scenes as over one million people walked down the Mall controlled by a line of ‘ British Bobbie’s ’ to the gates of the palace was not to be missed ! The BBC coverage was lot better but still was far from being right and this mornings papers have torn it to shreds ! The pictures below are just a small example of the final day taken from around Buckingham Palace including the Red Arrows and of course the ‘ Irish Guards ’ (I think –count the buttons ! ) saluting her Majesty and then firing a “ Fusilade ” of shots in rapid succession !


Thought for the Weekend;


Much Wisdom often goes with fewest words.


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