SUNNY AND HOT MALAGA ON SATURDAY;

SATURDAY 2^nd/ NOVEMBER 2013.

We were up with larks this morning and after our tea and toast we walked down to the entrance to the village by the roundabout to go on the bus for our day out over in Malaga again, paid for by the council, god bless them! The drive over along the coast road past Marbella, Mijas, and Funengirola is one of our favorite drives and at this time of the year with the sun out and the clear blue skies the Mediterranean simmers!

As we arrived in Malaga it was another beautiful day as you can see in the pictures below; we were dropped off outside the bullring, we crossed the road and had a coffee in a local bar before we headed across to the marina side of the port as we had decided that we would come back to the food festival later; the new “ Muelleune ”shopping and restaurant mall is in one long line running along the marina quay, first the shops and then the restaurants. On one side of the quay as you can see there was a rather large private yacht ‘Pegasus V’ tied up and next to it a very large four-masted sailing clipper that goes on Mediterranean cruisers with passengers. 

At one end of the quay the local ferry boats come in and out, the longest trip is back down the coast to Benalmadena whilst at the other end of the quay the fast ferry to Melilla,the Spanish province in Morocco four hours away; we then came back and headed along the new mall, there are Spanish,Italian,Greek,Mexican,        

American,Argentinan,Japanese Sushi & Teriyaki restaurants, the main Spanish restaurant is “ Jose Carlos Garcia ” who as you see allowed me into his kitchen and made us very welcome, its ‘Michelin’ starred and one of the best in Malaga!

Brenda also had a good look in the shops and managed to find a nice pair of black flat-slip on shoes to add to her collection! It was then time to go back to the bullring as you can see and go around the food festival, entry was free and you got one Tapa and a drink with the ticket, it was under a large marquee in the center of the bullring! It was more like a local Artisan market but with people from all over the province; Virgin Olive Oil, Wine, Sherry,Cheese,Fruit & Vegetables,savoury products and Jams, Cured Meats etc; all with small tasting samples – we bought some very tasty, moist local ‘Axarquia’ Ham carved by a professional off the bone – its to die for – I also bought a small pot of Mango fruit preserve to go with it!! At the entrance to the festival there was a small demonstration Kitchen and a live music stage to add to the typical loud Spanish atmosphere!

We the had time to have a nice light snack lunch in a local bar, deep-fried Bacarones for Brenda and a small Chicken fillet with fried Egg and frits for me along with a nice cool drink before we got back on the bus to come home. A ‘Helluva’ nice day out in sunny and warm Malaga!

Back home I caught up with some sports results; Liverpool lost at Arsenal 0-2 but Manchester City won at home v Norwich 7-0 with nearly the whole team scoring! Over here Ronaldo scored two as they won 2-3 at Rayo Vallencano. Meanwhile at Twickenham  England rallied in the second half and beat the Australian’s 20 13 in the first Rugby Union test! And for a change Vettel was only second in qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix behind his team mate Webber!

This evening for supper we had a very tasty and succulent ‘Steak a la Plancha’ with all the trimmings before settling down to watching the TV.

Thought for the Day; See above.

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MANILVA ON BRENDA'S BIRTHDAY.

THURSDAY/FRIDAY 21st/22nd/ JUNE 2012.

No need to say more about the weather – sunny and hot – so there! We did our weekend shopping on Thursday morning this week ahead of the celebrations on Friday; Cheta is in and out as normal in the morning and evening as it cools down – she follows Brenda everywhere and comes and visit’s me in the office as well ! On Thursday evening we went out for an early fish and chip supper down past Sabinillas as you can see in the pictures below, the Haddock was sweet and delicious as we sat and took in the view across past the Castle of Duquesa and the ‘ Chef ’ – ‘ Me ! ’ had the second of his three nights off! As we got back to the house the football was just starting after a ‘Football – Free’ Wednesday evening! Portugal beat the Czech’s 1-0 in the first of the Quarter Final games. The last picture below shows the ‘ Sims ’clan with their proud dad Peter ,taken by Barbara of Jake on his way to his graduation to the senior school and the girls Megan and Leah all dressed up for the final day of school dance concerts ! They are then off for 12 weeks!

I started the morning by playing, very loud, Stevie Wonder singing ‘ Happy Birthday ’ to get the ‘ Birthday Girl’ off to a good start !
We then had a lazy morning on Friday as we showered and got ourselves dressed up for lunch out; we started with a nice glass of ‘Spanish Kir Royal ’to set us up for the day, we then called into the Casares Golf Club’ for a very friendly drink sat out on the terrace in the shade. We then made our way up to “Venta Garcia” where ‘Jesus ’made us very welcome in his usual and distinctive manner! We had the best window seat in the house over looking the view down the valley with just a little breeze keeping us cool on another very hot day, the hottest so far, down here in sunny Manilva ! We went on the ‘ Menu Del Dia ’which is very good value for three courses with coffee and started with a rather nice Smoked Salmon Salad with a very aromatic dressing, for her main course Brenda had the pan-fried ‘ Dorada – Sea Bream ’and I had the Blade of Oven Roasted Lamb, they are served ( unusual for down here ) with a Julienne of fresh Vegetables and ‘ Soft ’ fried and very tasty Patatas Fritas ! Both excellent as we ordered a ‘ Cordieau Pinot Noir Rosado ’which at this time of the year ( Any time in fact ! ) goes down very nicely ! For our sweet Brenda had the Gin and Tonic Sorbet and I had the ‘ House ‘ Crème Caramel – afterwards they sang “ Happy Birthday ” with a candle in the middle of a selection of the sweets of the day – followed by a drink on the house, Brenda had a nice Brandy and I had the recommended House Liquor – ‘ Chilled Firewater ’and to finish a Coffee Cortado ! A memorable lunch out in a great atmosphere, the pictures above show ‘ Venta Garcia ’ at its best along with the food ! We came back and had a ‘ Siesta ’ and then had our usual cocktails up on the roof terrace before setting out to the music concert on the Plaza outside the Music School – it started late as usual and so ended even later, the pictures at the top above give you a little idea of the concert which ended at 1-00am with Isobel belting out all our favorite songs.They are a little out of focus as I forgot to re-charge the battery ! We then came back to the house in a cool night breeze which had come in across the ‘ Strait’s ’from Africa ! Heinz Baked Beans on toast finished of a “ Helluva ” birthday !!

PS; While we were out Germany beat Greece 4-2.

Thought for the Day;

My strength is the strength of ten because my heart is pure.


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BEACH HOUSE RESTAURANT.

Wednesday 29th.October.

We awoke to a beautiful sunny Costa de Sol day which is the nicest time of the year with the views over the mountains quite spectacular; Miguel,the gardener was cutting down the overgrown paths as we sat on the terrace for our breakfast.At lunchtime we had booked a table at the Beach House Restaurant on their special offer and as you can see it was a gorgeous day and the restaurant was busy,the beach was also busy with half term holiday makers and children but the part in front of us was deserted as you can see in the pictures below;Brenda had Goats Cheese and Pear Spring Roll with a warm Tomato Chutney,followed by Pan Fried Sea Bass resting on a warm salad with Chorizo and I had the Confit of Duck Rissoto with Baby Peas and to follow a Roasted Fillet of Pork served on a savoury mash with wilted greens and a Herb Jus!We also had a couple of drinks with our meal as we sat in the afternoon sun soaking in the atmosphere and relaxing,looking at the views over to Africa,and the best part was that it cost us nothing thanks to the vouchers from our sales training for Marriot! We are going back next week for the same again as we still have some vouchers left!!