OVERCAST BUT DRY MANILVA & SABINILLAS ON SATURDAY;

SATURDAY 23^rd/NOVEMBER 2013.

This morning there are no golfing arrangements so Tim is having a relaxing time about the house here in Manilva; we took in the news and weather and after our tea & toast we had a good chat before I set too in the kitchen to cook our Saturday Morning ‘Brunch’ – Campo Fried Eggs, crispy Smoked Bacon, pan-fried Tomatoes, Mushrooms & Chorizo, griddled English Pork sausages, Sautéed Potatoes and of course Heinz Baked Beans! Mano and Anna at the last moment could not join us due to some unforeseen family commitments so we tucked in any way and soon cleared our plates!

After showering I decided to take Tim down to Sabinillas to watch the Everton v Liverpool ‘Derby’ match, Tim is a very ardent Liverpool supporter, Sorry Big Bri there are still some! Brenda stayed at home and took the dog for a walk and then got herself up to date around the house; We went to Puerto Duquesa Marina and found two good seats in the ‘Heaven’ cocktail bar in front off three large screen TVs! Waiter service !! It was an excellent game with end to end scoring and the final score of 3-3 was a fair result but I know that Big Bri will not agree!

Meanwhile over here later in the ‘La Liga’ Barcelona won 4-0 at home to Granada, Real Madrid won 5-0 at Almeria but the late game of the day was a ‘Helluva’ match as Athetico Madrid won 7-0 at home to local rivals Getafe and went second in ‘La Liga’!

After our early evening ‘Happy Hour’ cocktails with the ‘King’ we walked around to the ‘Bodega La Espanola’ for our ‘Last supper’ with Tim, Gillian our friend joined us as she is due to return to England in just over a week to go to her new house in Torquay; the Bodega is run by Brenda’s dentist Victor, his wife Elizabeth and Josefina the waitress – all from Argentina – it is open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday when he is not working as the Dentist of the village! We had a very memorable evening helped along with good company and fine wine, the meal was excellent and the Bodega is a great asset to the village, our first proper restaurant!

To start we had a bowl of Prawns ‘Piri- Piri’ to share between us, it came in an attractive heated pot and the sauce was rather special as we dipped in with lots of bread - and Prawns! Gillian chose the ‘Herb Crusted Baked Salmon’ with Tartar sauce, a huge portion and very tasty and moist, Brenda had one of her favorites ‘Confit of Duck Leg’ which came with Parisienne and creamed potatoes – it fell of the bone, I had an Argentian Rib of Beef cooked rare on the open BBQ with excellent frits and a pot of hot Pepper sauce! The host appeared with the biggest Pepper Grinder in Manilva and the ‘Costa Del Sol’ ! Tim’s Roasted ‘Shoulder of Local Lamb’ finished over the BBQ was the ‘Star’ of the evening – it was every thing that it should be, crisp skin, very succulent and tasty meat falling off the bone – served with Mint sauce and frits! See the pictures above, more to follow at a later date from Gillian and Josefina!

We chose the House White and Red, both were excellent and very drinkable from a fine selection of local and national wines on offer; no dessert was called for as our host had us drinking some of the Local Dulce Wine Spanish style from a glass ‘Botas’ as you can see! To finish we had some very good and strong ‘Carajillo’s’ on the house with Chocolate Nuts & Mints. Thanks to Victor, Elizabeth and Josefina for a lovely and not expensive evening and the jars of local grapes marinated in Olive Oil and Chilli flakes! – we shall return and are going to recommend the Bodega on ‘Trip-Advisor,Foursquare and Travel Zoo’

PS; The back ground music was also to our taste - 'Creadance Clearwater Rival' !! 

We walked Gillian home and then ended the day with a night-cap back at the house – “ Long Live the King ”

Thought for the Day; See above.

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