A STILL VERY WARM & SUNNY MANILVA WITH A LITTLE RAIN ON SUNDAY.

SUNDAY 25^th/ JUNE 2017.

We managed just a little lie in this morning after the hottest night so far, after freshening up we had a light breakfast of fresh fruit, toast & tea. We then planned our day ahead, which was easy, as we are doing nothing, taking things easy, keeping a low profile, staying as cool as possible!

We are in for another ‘ hot one’ today, the sun was out and the sky blue, there is a little breeze,  at the moment it’s a little over cast but no sign of the wet stuff, that was forecasted, by this afternoon its due to reach 30degs+ - on Monday 34degs+ - then the rest of the week is hovering in the low 30s! Watch this space.

PS; We have just had thunder, lightning and rain! It’s still very warm including the rain!! 

At lunchtime we went along to 'Bar Ocana' for a change for a cool drink & Tapas, Brenda had the Grilled Swordfish and I had their excellent ' Paella '

For supper this evening we are keeping it very simple ‘ Grilled Minute Steak ‘ – a flattened ‘ Entrecote ‘ steak with just a few twice-cooked ‘ Chips’ on the side, with Dijon Mustard, next week it’s going to be one day at the time, keeping it simple and plane, watch this space.

Just a quick update on the sports results so far this weekend; Lewis Hamilton  took the pole position for today’s ‘ Azerbaijan Grand Prix’ in Baku, after a stunning lap under pressure. In the ‘ Aegon Championship’ Tennis Final at Queens Club in London, Spain’s Feliciano Lopez takes on the Croatian player Marin Cilic.

                                                   “ Brenda’s ‘Second’ Birthday Celebrations “

We set off down to ‘Puerto de la Duquesa’ in a local taxi,  which we called from Sabinillas, he over-charged us the ‘ Holiday Makers’ rate, on the way back up to the village after midnight, we jumped into a taxi in the Marina and it turned out that it was a local driver, that we know, he charged us the ‘ locals’ pre-midnight rate!

We bumped into Andrew & his wife Karen ( Castle Radio FM 89.2)  so we sat with them in the ‘ Heavens  Bar ‘ and took in the sights and sounds of the Marina on a very busy Saturday evening, we then waited over 30 mins to be even approached for our order, just one young girl serving( under pressure) Normally  we would have walked out, the ‘ Cocktails’ arrived after another long wait and were very disappointing, to say the least, not a good start to the evening, which then went from bad to worse.

I went to take a picture and realised that I had left my very special ‘ Sony’ camera on the back seat of the taxi! Panic followed, Andrew called the taxi company and asked for help to find the driver, with no luck, on a long shot, after nearly 45 mins since we were dropped off, I went to the taxi rank and made enquires, as I was talking to the drivers I noticed at the back of the queue of taxis the driver that had brought us down! “ RESULT “  The camera was still on the back leather seat, he had not noticed it and thankfully had not had another fare!!

See the picture below of a very happy couple!!

The good news is that this coming week Andrew is finding time to come up to my office/ studio to install the broadcast systems onto my computer system, meaning that I could be back on air ‘Live’ broadcasting from my studio, in the heart of sunny Manilva, with my programme on a Saturday lunchtime, for two hours, from 11-00am “ Sir Malcolm’s Classic Saturday Session “ 

On the ' Pete Black Request Show ' he has just played the same track for ' Lady Brenda! Watch this space!!

We then walked along and up to the ‘ Kinnaree Thai Restaurante’ where we were greeted by the lady owner, as long lost family! She has reserved the best table in the house, by a open window, on the front overlooking the marina on a balmy Saturday evening, the drinks arrived with savoury crackers and we chose from the extensive menu.

See the views below;

To start we had ‘ Thai Chicken Springrolls Prawn Rolls ‘ with a sharp Chilli sauce and their excellent ‘Steamed Prawn “ Dim- Sum “ For our main course Brenda fancied Duck so she choose the ‘ Crispy Roasted Duck’ with a sweet chilli sauce accompanied with Thai Noodles with vegetables, I had my usual ‘ Large Prawns in a Messaman curry sauce ‘ with their excellent ‘ Three Delights Egg Fried Rice’ 

See the pictures above.

Brenda had a half-bottle of her favourite ‘Marquis de Casares Green Label Blanco ‘ At the end, with the coffee, we had ‘on the house’ a Brandy & Peach Schnapps, sat on the next table were a very nice couple that we got talking to, Brendan & Janet, with their two lovely daughters, they are from Dublin, with an Irish/ American heritage, they have a place along the coast and come down at various times during the year, nice to meet you and we enjoyed talking to you.

We then jumped into the taxi to come back up to the village, the night was not over as all the local bars were still busy, well after midnight, as the locals come out in the slighter cooler night air, we joined Manolo & Lumy sat outside ‘Bar Rojas’ for a night cap and chat, as we were leaving, after reminiscing, Lumy produced a jug of her famous ‘ Gazpacho ‘ that she had just made, all the ingredients came from their four’ Campos’! You drink it in a tall glass with ice, not as a cold soup !! 

We got back home feeling no pain just before 2-00 am after a ‘ Helluva’ evening!!

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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" ALHAURIN EL GRANDE " & ' RESTAURANTE BAR SARDINA ' ON SATURDAY;

SATURDAY 3^rd/ JUNE 2017.

We were up and out on our travels after a quick cup of tea, it was already very hot, we then went along the coast road past a sparkling Mediterranean towards Marbella, we then headed up the twisting spectacular road past Ojen & Monda, up to the turning at the top of the Sierra’s for ‘Alhaurin El Grande ‘ – we then hit a ‘ Guardia Civil ‘ check point taking us off the main road up a slip road, there had been a serious accident ahead and the Ambulance Helicopter had just landed.

We eventually arrived outside the town at the ‘ Venta La Chovas ‘ for breakfast before Joyce ‘ Baby’ came along. Brenda had the traditional ‘Tostada Con Tomate ‘ – toast rubbed with a Garlic Clove & Olive Oil then spread with a  grated Tomato Salsa, I had, youv’e already guessed, ‘Campo’ Fried Eggs with excellent Middle Bacon Rashers’ and lots of crusty bread, two glasses of the very fine fresh Orange juice on the side!

We left our car in the car park and headed off into the town with Joyce in her car, we had a little tour to remind us of the all the local attractions, the various churches are rather special, we ended up in the old part of the town at the “ Restaurante Bar Sardina “ one of Joyce’s favourites, it’s celebrating being in the hands of the same family for a hundred years! 

We sat outside in the shade with a cool drink, it reached by the late afternoon 33 degs, we decided to stay there for our lunch, the old restaurant is air conditioned, Brenda had to start a very nice ‘ Pincha de Gambas, Joyce had the Prawns in Creamed Spinach and I had a very large Salad of  a warm Chicken a la Plancha with a light creamed  ‘Korma Curry’ sauce.

For our main we all had grilled fish, Brenda had the Sea Bass, Joyce the Bream and I had my favourite Sole, sadly the ‘ Frits’ were frozen, all the fish were excellent, a rather nice bottle of the House  ‘Rouda ‘ Blanco helped! We had a good old and long catch up with all our news and at the same time put the World to rights, there was a lively ‘Birthday’ party in the restaurant, meanwhile around the town we saw two large weddings, with Horses & Carriages, and especially at this time of the year, very many Family  ‘Conmunion’ parties, all dressed to kill!

We then went to a local Venta, outside the town, for a cool drink and a breath of fresh air before returning the same bar for our last drink of the day, the Juventus v Real Madrid game was on the TV, when Real Madrid scored their first goal the bar went ‘CRAZY ‘! When Juventus equalised there was not a sound!!  

It was then time to head back to sunny Manilva, as we were leaving there was the most spectacular red sunset over the mountains, when we came back to the village one of neighbours moved his car to let us back into our space in the small square, thanks Diego!

We had left at half-time in the match so when I enquired up at ‘Bar Rojas ‘ it was then 1-4 for Real Madid, so the cars started arriving back along Calle Mar, blowing their horns and waving flags, we decided to stay in the late cool air for a night- cap after a ‘ Helluva’ day, they carried on coming for next hour so we ended up having a late supper of ‘Campo’ Fried Eggs ( from Lumy’s hens!) with Susanna’s excellent fresh ‘Frits’ cooked in Olive Oil! The perfect end to the day!!

See above the picture Blog from yesterday.

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A VERY 'CLOSE' WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON SATURDAY.

SATURDAY 27^th/ MAY 2017.

We had a nice lie in this morning as the village is very quiet, no deliveries, no children ( too hot!) & no church bells, so far! We have a busy day ahead so we decided to have a good breakfast to set us up, ‘ Crispy Smoked Bacon, Chorizo & Campo Fried Eggs ‘ with lots of buttered toast and mugs of hot, steaming tea, as you see below.

We are setting off at lunchtime down to ‘ Castillo de la Duquesa’ – the first problem will be finding somewhere to park, it starts at 12-00noon with a parade from ‘Puerto de la Duquesa’ ­– “ The X1 International Day “ then carries on until 12.00 midnight with a rock band to finish! The music and stage sound engineering is supplied by ‘ Castle Radio FM 89.2 & Online on the WWW’  Yours truly ‘ Sir ‘ Malcolm is appearing ‘ live ‘ broadcasting from the stage with my ‘ Classic Saturday Session ‘ in between all the various acts from all over the World, watch this space.

Overnight it went very ‘close’ and this morning started a little overcast, the sun is now breaking through and the sky is starting to clear, by lunchtime it’s forecast reach the mid 20 s, this afternoon will be very hot & sunny, tomorrow it’s more of the same and then next week we are in for another warm & sunny week, watch this space.

On the sports front today and over the weekend, over in the UK it’s the “ FA Cup Final” at Wembley as Arsenal play Chelsea, over here in Madrid it’s the “ Copa Del Rey Final’ as Barcelona play Alaves. Meanwhile it’s the ‘Grand Prix of Monaco’ as Lewis Hamilton fights off the ‘ Ferrari’s.

We are taking the day as it comes and will sort out the eating arrangements later, tomorrow we are looking forward to our ‘ Sunday Roast Lunch ‘ ( again!) as we are going to our favourite restaurant ‘ Kokomo ‘ with our friends Kevin & Caroline.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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A VERY, VERY HOT & SUNNY MANILVA ON SATURDAY;

SATURDAY 9^th / JULY 2016.

We both had a nice lie in this morning after a very hot night, 30 degs+ & an even hotter evening; after breakfast I watched ‘ Saturday Kitchen Live’ before catching up with the ‘WWW’  Brenda is pottering about, catching up with the chores while I’m up in the office/studio typing and posting the Blog.

Its going to be a hot one today, the sun was out early and there is no breeze, by lunchtime it will be in the high 30s and the rest of the weekend and into next week is going to get even warmer, the 40s+ are forecast! See the picture this morning across to Gibraltar & Africa.

Sadly still no radio show on ‘ Castle Radio FM 89.2 & Online on the WWW’ as the work on the studio/office complex is still on-going down in Puerto de la Duquesa, I’m waiting for the broadcasting system to be installed onto my PCs to as I will be able to produce and broadcast ‘ live’ from here in the heart of sunny Manilva, watch this space.

Tonight’s supper is ‘ Grilled Entrecote Steaks’ cooked on a very hot griddle plate ‘ Med-Rare’ –garnished with sautéed Button Mushrooms & deep-fried Onions Rings, whole Green Beans and twice-cooked ‘ Chips’ Tomorrow evening we are having ‘ Pan-Seared Medallions of Pork Fillet ‘ with my famous ‘ Charcutiere ‘ sauce on the side, a small selection of seasonal vegetables and ‘ Pommes Lyonnaise ‘

Its a very big sports weekend; at the moment its the Qualifying for the ‘ British Grand Prix at Silverstone ‘ then at Wimbledon its the ‘ Ladies Final ‘ at Serena Williams plays the German lady Angelique Kerber, who beat her in the Australian final earlier in the year!  Yesterday in the Men’s Semi-Finals Andy Murray won in straight sets and plays the Canadian, Milos Raonic in the final on Sunday after he beat Roger Federer in five sets.

PS; Hamilton on  'Pole' & Serena won!

Meanwhile down in the ‘ Pyrenees’ its Stage 8 from Pau to Bagneres-De- Luchon over 184 kms with several climbs including the famous ‘ Col du Tourmelet ‘ after the start, watch out for our Chris Froome to make his move to take over the Yellow Jersey, on yesterdays stage the British rider Steve Cummings, from the Wirral, broke away and won the stage! See the route map of today’s stage below.

PS; CHRIS FROOME won the stage and took over the Yellow Jersey ! He ' jumped off ' at the top of the last climb, leaving behind the rest of the contenders, it was downhill for 15 kms to the finish, Froome is not a noted ' Descender' but had been practising in a wind tunnel and adopted a new style,low over his handlebars and peddling a big gear!! " RESULT " See the picture below!

Lots of cool drinks & Ice Lollies, all the fans on, in the office, kitchen & lounge, relaxing and keeping in the shade, wearing minimal clothing, thinking positive etc – we will survive, watch this space.

Thoughts for the Day, See above.

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A VERY WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON SATURDAY;

SATURDAY 18^th / JUNE 2016.

We were up early this morning and after a quick cup of tea and a piece of toast we shot out on our travels; I dropped Brenda off at the folks apartment with some supplies and then carried on down to the studio in ‘ Castillo de la Duquesa’ to broadcast my ‘ live’ show ‘ Sir Malcolm’s Saturday Classic’s Show’ on ‘ Castel Radio FM 89.2 & Online on the WWW at ‘ castleradiofm.com

Brenda and the gang de-camped to the pool and dipped their feet in the warming water, Lyn is a ‘water babe’ –  they listened to the show on our small radio; its another glorious day and by this afternoon its due to reach 34 degs in the shade! It looks like we are in for another hot week as we are out & about on the ‘ Costa Del Sol’

Just a quick update on the sports front, we are watching this afternoon Tennis, Horse Racing, Football and Motor Racing, England have just beaten Australia 7-23 to earn their first series win in Australia in Melbourne in the second ‘ Rugby Union’ test match – sorry to all the Australian family!!

This evening we are going out for supper ‘ a la fresco’ on the roof terrace of ‘ La Travita ‘ overlooking the Duquesa Marina, the only problem is parking, I’m going to drop all the folks off outside the restaurant and then if a don’t find somewhere to park I will have to go along to ‘ Castillo de la Duquesa’ and walk back ( 10 mins!) Watch this space.

Thoughts for the Day; See above.

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