MANILVA START OF A " HELLUVA " WEEK..

TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY 28th/29th AUGUST 2012.


BRIAN AND LILLI HERE IN SUNNY MANILVA DAY 2/3;


On Tuesday morning we had the full on Spanish continental breakfast; Fresh Orange Juice, Ogen Melon slices, local Nectarines, local baby Figs, cold sliced Chorizo, mixed cured Hams, local Breads with Honey, Coffee and Tea! Brian and Lilli then caught the bus down to Sabinillas and went for their first swim in the sea and a cold beer or two on the promenade; they then did a little shopping and stocked us up with some more essentials. In the evening they had been invited to a friend’s house for dinner as it was his birthday so we went up to Bar Rojas for a late supper and they came along later to join us for a nightcap.

We went up to Bar Rojas for breakfast on Wednesday morning as you can see in the picture below; we had the traditional local bread toasted and severed with Virgin Olive Oil and a freshly made Tomato Concasse along with coffee con leche and glasses of Gazpacho to set us up for the day ahead – we had a little lie in to prepare us also; by the then sun was past the yard arm so we had our first cool drinks of the day, the girls were on the Gin and Tonic’s, Brian on the bottles of ‘ Cruz Campo ’and I had my first of many ‘ Cuba Libra’s ’Meanwhile the council workmen had nearly finished the wine press and are now putting in the fine spray water system under the canopy ! Andy came along and joined us before he went into work and then Carlos popped up as it was his day off so off we went; three hours later after having Lumy’s famous Homemade Burgers with Bacon,Lettuce,Tomato,Cheese,fried Onions and topped with a fried egg and her Batatas Fritos we were already feeling no pain ! Lille went off for a swim in the Hotel pool and Brian went down to Bodegas Augustin to meet some of his mates – the ‘Meeting ’lasted another four hours!! We went for a siesta and Lilli came back later after stopping at Bodega Augustin where she met Mano and Anna.

We had planned to go down to Puerto Duquesa to the restaurant where Andy works for dinner “The Pergala” and we did eventually get there as you can see in the pictures below; we had a very nice evening enjoying one another’s company and the food was OK, my Medium Rare Fillet Steak with Fresh Chips was the star of the show, the girls Sea Bass was all right but Brian’s Wild Boar was slightly lacking! You get a free glass of Cava as you walk in and the House Nibble was a very nice Cheese Puff, I chose the ‘Torres Vina Sol ’- two bottles on ice and later you get a free shot of ‘Lemoncellio ’ All ok but we would not go there again and would not recommend it ! We then caught a taxi back up to the village and watched the end of the second half of the second leg of the ‘ Super Cup ’ in Madrid, Real Madrid v Barcelona – it ended up 2-1 to Madrid so it was 4-4 on the night so Madrid won on the away goal rule ! Manolo from Bar Rojas was happy and let me know it !! Later after finishing work Andy joined us and then him and Brian went back to his house for a ‘ Bonding Session ’ on the beer’s and homemade cigs ! We retired after one “ Helluva ” day.

PS; In the Vuelta it was a time trial over a hilly course; Froome closed the gap on the leader Rodriguez but lost second place in the overall standings after only finishing third in behind Contador on the 11th stage, so Alberto Contador is now second and only one second behind the leader and Froome is 16 second back !



Thought for the Day;



I’ve got a theory that if you give 100 percent all of the time, somehow things will work out in the end.




…