MANILVA THE SISTERS VISIT.

TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY 25^th/26^th/27^th SEPTEMBER 2012.

Tuesday turned out to be our last sunny day down here in Manilva as the tail of the tropical storm ‘ Nadine ’is due to catch us later in the week; after getting ourselves smartened up we set off to “ The Brasserie ” at Casares Golf Club for our pre-lunch cocktails,it is our favorite spot for drinks when we are on the way out. The pictures below show the Brasserie at its best as I was caught on camera – not often ! We then headed up the valley past the luxurious Finca Cortesin Golf and Country Club where we have been invited next Tuesday to a ‘ VIP ’ deVere group cocktail party ! Venta Garcia was looking at it’s best as we were welcomed by Jesus, we had the prime table in the window as you can see in the pictures below; The meal, as usual was excellent, Brenda had a Smoked Salmon salad to start, Norah had the Chicken and Vegetable Broth, Jenny had a Pasta salad and I had the ‘ House Chicken Croquettes ’which come with some crisp chips ! Brenda for her main course had the Confit of Duck Leg,Norah had a baby Sole, Jenny had the blade of Roast Lamb and I had the baby Suckling Pig with Lyonnaise potatoes – To drink with the meal we had a bottle of the ‘ Pinot Noir Rose Cava Brut ’ Crème Caramel’s to follow along with complimentary Brandies ended another fine meal at the Venta ! It was siesta time when we returned to the house an in the evening we just watched some TV and ‘ Snacked Out ’

Overnight the rain storms hit us, our first real rain in over a year ! We slowed down going out so I decided to have a cooked breakfast,Eggs,Smoked Back English Bacon, English Pork Sausages, Button Mushrooms, and Sauté Potatoes along with plenty of buttered toast and tea set us up for the day ahead ! We then set off, in the afternoon, in the hire car for a drive along the coast,Estepona market had been rained off so we showed the sister’s the famous ‘Tikitano ’ beach restaurant, went up to the ‘Gastronomic Capital of the Costa del Sol ’ Benahavis for a quick tour ready for another day, stopped at ‘ Tricky Ricky’s for tea and then went though Puerto Banus onto the ‘ Golden Mile ’ of Marbella.The next port of call was the shopping mall ‘ La Cancelda ’

for mainly window shopping ! We then picked Gillian up from the bus station in Marbella after her flight back from the UK,she had had an horrific trip going over with Friends in their car, Santander and Bilbao ferries on strike, a dash across France to Calais and severe storms crossing the English Channel !! After dropping her off up in the village we shot down to ‘ Marlow’s for a early fish supper – Haddock, Chips and Mushy Peas before the girls packed when we got back to the house for an early start next morning.

We went over to Gibraltar for the sister’s flight back to Liverpool on Easy Jet, it turns out that they are not carrying on with the Liverpool flights from the end of October ! Brenda walked across the border with Norah and Jenny to find out the old airport had closed,finally,and they where on the first flight out from the new airport ! See the picture above. They arrived safely home only half an hour late – we are already looking forward to their next visit next year !! We did the shopping on our way home and for supper we had Calves Liver again with all the trimmings before we settled down to watch the classic film of the week – “ High Noon ”with Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly.

Thought for the Day;

Sadness flies away on the wings of time.

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