Friday, July 23, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
MANILVA LIFE IN THE SUMMER.
WEDNESDAY 21ST JULY 2010.
This week we are now in our full summer mode; fresh Orange juice and toast for breakfast, light salad at lunchtime and in the evening this week we have had so far, Pan Fried Chicken Breast in Balsalmic,Minute steak smeared with Mustard, Pork Cutlets in foaming lemon butter and tomorrow Pork and Chicken burgers that we have just picked up from our local butcher, as he was making them, with sauté Onions; Brenda makes a salad selection which we put together with all sorts of different dressing’s and Baked potatoes. During the day we stick to our routine and now in the evening after supper we go for a walk around the village, stopping by the fountain in the square by the church and by the new water feature at the top of Calle Mar before we drop in Bar Rojas,last evening we sat talking to Lumy under the new Sonbrajo which is now fully lit with lanterns; On Thursday evening there is another free concert on the terrace, this time we think that it is classical music and on Friday it is the Brass Band contest in the centre of the village, both start at about 10-30pm as the cooler night air takes effect.
On Monday it is holiday in the village for the “ Verbena Santa Ana de Manilva ” This is one of the main procession days when accompanied by the town Brass Band they parade around the village streets with the tableau which are decorated with flowers, this happens during the morning and in the evening and is a very happy and colour full time. Watch out for the reports and pictures over the weekend and on Monday.
Thought for the Day;
If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in bed with a Mosquito.
.
This week we are now in our full summer mode; fresh Orange juice and toast for breakfast, light salad at lunchtime and in the evening this week we have had so far, Pan Fried Chicken Breast in Balsalmic,Minute steak smeared with Mustard, Pork Cutlets in foaming lemon butter and tomorrow Pork and Chicken burgers that we have just picked up from our local butcher, as he was making them, with sauté Onions; Brenda makes a salad selection which we put together with all sorts of different dressing’s and Baked potatoes. During the day we stick to our routine and now in the evening after supper we go for a walk around the village, stopping by the fountain in the square by the church and by the new water feature at the top of Calle Mar before we drop in Bar Rojas,last evening we sat talking to Lumy under the new Sonbrajo which is now fully lit with lanterns; On Thursday evening there is another free concert on the terrace, this time we think that it is classical music and on Friday it is the Brass Band contest in the centre of the village, both start at about 10-30pm as the cooler night air takes effect.
On Monday it is holiday in the village for the “ Verbena Santa Ana de Manilva ” This is one of the main procession days when accompanied by the town Brass Band they parade around the village streets with the tableau which are decorated with flowers, this happens during the morning and in the evening and is a very happy and colour full time. Watch out for the reports and pictures over the weekend and on Monday.
Thought for the Day;
If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in bed with a Mosquito.
.
TOUR DE FRANCE STAGE 16 RESULT.
TUESDAY 20TH JULY 2010.
Lance Armstrong paid a farewell tribute to the mountains which have bathed him in adulation during a glorious Tour de France career that now has four more days to go; The seven-times victor did not win the stage over four Pyreneean summits to Pau, yet his place at the front of a dutiful procession to honour the Tour’s history was sufficient homage. Armstrong showed the young guns how it is done, he led from the start and on every climb he gave the famous Armstrong “ Stare ” at any one that came up to him; it says you can try if you like but you will not succeed, he then gets out of the saddle and dances on the pedals as he leaves them in his wake !
The false truce between Contador and Schleck meant that they did not make any effort to race on the stage and their standings remain unchanged; Fedrigo won the stage after a sprint finish. Wednesday is a rest day and on Thursday it’s the Col du Tourmalet in the opposite direction with a finish at the top, not on the flat as on Tuesday so Contador and Schleck will have to race if they want to win !
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Lance Armstrong paid a farewell tribute to the mountains which have bathed him in adulation during a glorious Tour de France career that now has four more days to go; The seven-times victor did not win the stage over four Pyreneean summits to Pau, yet his place at the front of a dutiful procession to honour the Tour’s history was sufficient homage. Armstrong showed the young guns how it is done, he led from the start and on every climb he gave the famous Armstrong “ Stare ” at any one that came up to him; it says you can try if you like but you will not succeed, he then gets out of the saddle and dances on the pedals as he leaves them in his wake !
The false truce between Contador and Schleck meant that they did not make any effort to race on the stage and their standings remain unchanged; Fedrigo won the stage after a sprint finish. Wednesday is a rest day and on Thursday it’s the Col du Tourmalet in the opposite direction with a finish at the top, not on the flat as on Tuesday so Contador and Schleck will have to race if they want to win !
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Monday, July 19, 2010
TOUR DE FRANCE STAGE 15 - RESULT.
MONDAY 19TH JULY 2010.
PHEW ! Who would have thought that today’s stage would have become so dramatic ?
Stage 15 over 188km was from Pamiers to Bagners de Luchon with the hors-category Port de Bales near the finish before a very steep and fast decent which requires skilled descenders;
Alberto Contador took advantage of Andy Schleck’s misfortune on the 15th stage of the Tour to take the overall lead from his nearest rival by 8 second ! Schleck,attempting to attack the defending champion near the summit of the final climb of the day, saw his chain jump off and jam his rear wheel. Contador seized the chance to strike and overturned a 31 second deficit; Frenchman Thomas Voeckier,the French champion won the stage, Schleck was furious with Contador,a friend up to now,for having taken advantage of his mechanical failure, “ My stomach is full of anger,the race is not finished and I want to take my revenge,I can end it like a champion ”
Contador should have sit up on the decent,once he heard, it is race etiquette,it’s not the done thing in cycling to take advantage of a leaders mechanical problem,normally a rival would not take advantage !
PS; Contador has just apologised,this morning " The race was in full gear and well,maybe I made a mistake,I'm sorry "
Tomorrow’s stage from Bagners de Luchon to Pau has to be the toughest stage on this years Tour with four huge and famous climbs in the 196km; After the two hors-category Col de Tourmalet and Col d’Aubisque there is still over 60km to the finish !! The stage is a tribute to the great Eddy Mercks from Belgium who was victorious after a 180km breakaway over the same mountains in 1969.
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PHEW ! Who would have thought that today’s stage would have become so dramatic ?
Stage 15 over 188km was from Pamiers to Bagners de Luchon with the hors-category Port de Bales near the finish before a very steep and fast decent which requires skilled descenders;
Alberto Contador took advantage of Andy Schleck’s misfortune on the 15th stage of the Tour to take the overall lead from his nearest rival by 8 second ! Schleck,attempting to attack the defending champion near the summit of the final climb of the day, saw his chain jump off and jam his rear wheel. Contador seized the chance to strike and overturned a 31 second deficit; Frenchman Thomas Voeckier,the French champion won the stage, Schleck was furious with Contador,a friend up to now,for having taken advantage of his mechanical failure, “ My stomach is full of anger,the race is not finished and I want to take my revenge,I can end it like a champion ”
Contador should have sit up on the decent,once he heard, it is race etiquette,it’s not the done thing in cycling to take advantage of a leaders mechanical problem,normally a rival would not take advantage !
PS; Contador has just apologised,this morning " The race was in full gear and well,maybe I made a mistake,I'm sorry "
Tomorrow’s stage from Bagners de Luchon to Pau has to be the toughest stage on this years Tour with four huge and famous climbs in the 196km; After the two hors-category Col de Tourmalet and Col d’Aubisque there is still over 60km to the finish !! The stage is a tribute to the great Eddy Mercks from Belgium who was victorious after a 180km breakaway over the same mountains in 1969.
.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
TOUR DE FRANCE STAGE 13/14 RESULTS.
SUNDAY 18TH JULY 2010.
Yesterday’s stage of the Tour was won by Alexandre Vinokourov from Rodez to Revel after a late breakaway on the approach to Revel; The Kazakh made his move with just over 5km of the race remaining, Isle of Man sprinter Mark Cavendish came second but there was no movement in the overall classification.
Today’s stage from Revel to Ax-3 Domaines was over 185km; Christophe Riblon from France won the stage with another late breakaway as Schleck shadowed Contador to the finish in the first day in the Pyrenees; again they played cat and mouse in a tactical battle, dancing on their pedals and ignoring the events going on around them, at one point Contador was almost stationary daring the Luxembourg rider Schleck to go in front,Schleck stayed calm, not rising to the intimidation; he later said “ He played poker, I played poker, we both played poker today, Tomorrow will be different. ” With six days of racing remaining, three further Pyrenean tests loom; on Monday the 188km stage has three lower category climbs, then the hors- category Port de Bales,followed by a tight decent to Bagneres-de-Luchon.The riders then climb the famous Col de Tourmalet,twice,on Tuesday and Thursday in different directions with a rest day in Pau ! PHEW !!
Yesterday’s stage of the Tour was won by Alexandre Vinokourov from Rodez to Revel after a late breakaway on the approach to Revel; The Kazakh made his move with just over 5km of the race remaining, Isle of Man sprinter Mark Cavendish came second but there was no movement in the overall classification.
Today’s stage from Revel to Ax-3 Domaines was over 185km; Christophe Riblon from France won the stage with another late breakaway as Schleck shadowed Contador to the finish in the first day in the Pyrenees; again they played cat and mouse in a tactical battle, dancing on their pedals and ignoring the events going on around them, at one point Contador was almost stationary daring the Luxembourg rider Schleck to go in front,Schleck stayed calm, not rising to the intimidation; he later said “ He played poker, I played poker, we both played poker today, Tomorrow will be different. ” With six days of racing remaining, three further Pyrenean tests loom; on Monday the 188km stage has three lower category climbs, then the hors- category Port de Bales,followed by a tight decent to Bagneres-de-Luchon.The riders then climb the famous Col de Tourmalet,twice,on Tuesday and Thursday in different directions with a rest day in Pau ! PHEW !!
MANILVA THIS WEEK.
MONDAY/SUNDAY 12TH/18TH JULY 2010.
Well we have had one “ Helluva ” week in a very hot and sunny Manilva; the weather has now settled down to extremely hot every day and very warm during the night – 37degs during the day and 30degs at night ! On Monday after the celebrations of the night before we had a little lie in and then caught up with the chores around the house; the cooking is kept to minimal at this time of the year so we are living on salads at lunchtime and quick and easy to cook in the evening, Pan Fried Chicken breast in Balsamic comes on the menu a lot, anything that requires some cooking I see too first thing in the morning such as Curry and some of our favorite Potatoe dish’s. In the afternoon we have a little siesta and then move up to the roof terrace as the sun moves around; at this time of the year we hear and see a lot of the fire planes and helicopters, painted Yellow,as they take the water from the sea and then go and attack the fires inland, this week there was a bad one just behind Estepona and 200 people had to be evacuated ! We have our cocktail hour and catch up with our reading and then come down to the chill-out room to listen to some good music using the Spotify system on the PC with the speakers turned right up ! Each day I play different music, this week it’s been Jools Holland, Dire Straits, Buddy Holly,Stevie Wonder and Creedence Clearwater Revial ! We have supper as late as possible and then usually walk up to Bar Rojas for Carajillo’s;this week as you have seen Manolo has been constructing the Sonbrajo and yesterday it was finished; on Wednesday we stayed up at the Bar as he does most of the work at night and watched and supervised along with all the locals, everybody has an opinion so it gets a bit loud and Spanish as the night goes on! Thursday evening we had a rocking night at the free concert and on Friday morning we did the weekend shopping, we have not seem much of Mano and Anna this week as he has been putting in a new damp course outside their house; We had to be up early on Saturday morning as the painters and decorators had arranged to come at 8-30 to repair,plaster,paint and decorate all the spots and ceilings that have been effected by the winter rains, on insurance; what we did not realize was that they were going to paint everywhere, which meant that we had to take everything down including curtain pelmets in the three bedrooms, my office was cleared of all the pictures and posters, the lounge was stripped and the bathroom and upstairs utility room were emptied ! When they left us we could not get them to move and put things back up as the paint had to dry so we ended up on the hottest day of the year with a Helluva job on our hands to get things back to normal! I had to borrow a stepladder from Manolo to put the curtains back up, meanwhile Brenda started cleaning,mopping,brushing,moving as I put up all the pictures and posters; we ended up loosing weight as we lost a lot of sweat in all our hard endeavors. So in the evening after cold showers we went up to Bar Rojas for some supper ,sat under the new Sombrajo as their first customers and took in the cooling evening breeze as the world went by and talked to Lumy.Today we are having a at home day and have not made any plans, we will see what comes along!
During the week I have been reporting on the Tour de France as you can see, it is my sport and the live coverage in Spain is fantastic; Jeff and Annette are back in Kuala Lumpur after their travels so we will catch up with them on Skype next week. Jenny phoned to let us know when she and Norah are coming over for their holiday in September and Tim has had to change his plans and is now coming over with Thea at the end of October just before we go to the villa in Guadalmina for five weeks
Thought for the Day;
It’s never too late to be who you might have been.
.
Well we have had one “ Helluva ” week in a very hot and sunny Manilva; the weather has now settled down to extremely hot every day and very warm during the night – 37degs during the day and 30degs at night ! On Monday after the celebrations of the night before we had a little lie in and then caught up with the chores around the house; the cooking is kept to minimal at this time of the year so we are living on salads at lunchtime and quick and easy to cook in the evening, Pan Fried Chicken breast in Balsamic comes on the menu a lot, anything that requires some cooking I see too first thing in the morning such as Curry and some of our favorite Potatoe dish’s. In the afternoon we have a little siesta and then move up to the roof terrace as the sun moves around; at this time of the year we hear and see a lot of the fire planes and helicopters, painted Yellow,as they take the water from the sea and then go and attack the fires inland, this week there was a bad one just behind Estepona and 200 people had to be evacuated ! We have our cocktail hour and catch up with our reading and then come down to the chill-out room to listen to some good music using the Spotify system on the PC with the speakers turned right up ! Each day I play different music, this week it’s been Jools Holland, Dire Straits, Buddy Holly,Stevie Wonder and Creedence Clearwater Revial ! We have supper as late as possible and then usually walk up to Bar Rojas for Carajillo’s;this week as you have seen Manolo has been constructing the Sonbrajo and yesterday it was finished; on Wednesday we stayed up at the Bar as he does most of the work at night and watched and supervised along with all the locals, everybody has an opinion so it gets a bit loud and Spanish as the night goes on! Thursday evening we had a rocking night at the free concert and on Friday morning we did the weekend shopping, we have not seem much of Mano and Anna this week as he has been putting in a new damp course outside their house; We had to be up early on Saturday morning as the painters and decorators had arranged to come at 8-30 to repair,plaster,paint and decorate all the spots and ceilings that have been effected by the winter rains, on insurance; what we did not realize was that they were going to paint everywhere, which meant that we had to take everything down including curtain pelmets in the three bedrooms, my office was cleared of all the pictures and posters, the lounge was stripped and the bathroom and upstairs utility room were emptied ! When they left us we could not get them to move and put things back up as the paint had to dry so we ended up on the hottest day of the year with a Helluva job on our hands to get things back to normal! I had to borrow a stepladder from Manolo to put the curtains back up, meanwhile Brenda started cleaning,mopping,brushing,moving as I put up all the pictures and posters; we ended up loosing weight as we lost a lot of sweat in all our hard endeavors. So in the evening after cold showers we went up to Bar Rojas for some supper ,sat under the new Sombrajo as their first customers and took in the cooling evening breeze as the world went by and talked to Lumy.Today we are having a at home day and have not made any plans, we will see what comes along!
During the week I have been reporting on the Tour de France as you can see, it is my sport and the live coverage in Spain is fantastic; Jeff and Annette are back in Kuala Lumpur after their travels so we will catch up with them on Skype next week. Jenny phoned to let us know when she and Norah are coming over for their holiday in September and Tim has had to change his plans and is now coming over with Thea at the end of October just before we go to the villa in Guadalmina for five weeks
Thought for the Day;
It’s never too late to be who you might have been.
.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
MANILVA GOES NUCLEAR.
THURSDAY 15TH JULY 2010.
This week’s free concert arranged by the The School of Music and the Director of Music,Fernando, featured a four piece rock band “ Nucleo ” On Vocals was Monika Pantoja,lead guitar Kike Romero,Bass Gaby Parrado and on the drums Javi Gomez. The programme listed the music as as classic versions, pop-rock and international and that is what we got in plenty ! The singer had a very versatile voice and she really belted out all sorts of songs from Police, Elton John,Alisa Keys,B.B King,Arthea Franklin and a real original rock version of “ My Name is Luca ” The crowd soon got into the music, the one thing that made it so good for us was that she sang all the songs in English, our Spanish friends and the crowd could not join in with all the songs and so we seemed to be leading the singing and clapping ,for a change ! At the end they did a rock version of “ Stand by Me ” by the Drifters and by this time I was up and dancing with the TV presenter from Manilva TV who were recording the show, One “ Helluva ” night on the terrace outside the School Of Music and next to the TV studio’s in the balmy late evening air, the 90min.set was a real foot tapping, hand clapping evening and we enjoyed the whole night and the band “ ROCKED ” The pictures below show the band in action but not the atmosphere !
.
This week’s free concert arranged by the The School of Music and the Director of Music,Fernando, featured a four piece rock band “ Nucleo ” On Vocals was Monika Pantoja,lead guitar Kike Romero,Bass Gaby Parrado and on the drums Javi Gomez. The programme listed the music as as classic versions, pop-rock and international and that is what we got in plenty ! The singer had a very versatile voice and she really belted out all sorts of songs from Police, Elton John,Alisa Keys,B.B King,Arthea Franklin and a real original rock version of “ My Name is Luca ” The crowd soon got into the music, the one thing that made it so good for us was that she sang all the songs in English, our Spanish friends and the crowd could not join in with all the songs and so we seemed to be leading the singing and clapping ,for a change ! At the end they did a rock version of “ Stand by Me ” by the Drifters and by this time I was up and dancing with the TV presenter from Manilva TV who were recording the show, One “ Helluva ” night on the terrace outside the School Of Music and next to the TV studio’s in the balmy late evening air, the 90min.set was a real foot tapping, hand clapping evening and we enjoyed the whole night and the band “ ROCKED ” The pictures below show the band in action but not the atmosphere !
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Thursday, July 15, 2010
TOUR DE FRANCE NEWSFLASH.
THURSDAY 15TH JULY 2010.
Briton’s Mark Cavendish out sprinted Alessandro Petacchi to claim his third win of the 2010 Tour de France on stage 11 from Sisteron to Bourg-les-Valence,the 13th of his career !
The win was very controversial after his team mate, Mark Renshaw, from Australia, was involved in an extraordinary tussle with Julien Dean, from a rival team and New Zealand; in the final kilometer he used his helmet,three times to push Dean to the right to give Cavendish the necessary room to hit the front 400m from the finishing line.Renshaw has been kicked off the Tour for headbutting in the side of the New Zealander,Physical contact is permitted but this went a little too far !!!
Luxembourg’s Andy Schleck retained the overall lead after a relatively slow and flat stage through the haute Alps.
Stage 12 is from Bourg-de Paege to Mende over 211kms. and has a short but very stiff climb to a flat finish.
Joaquin Rodriguez sprinted to victory ahead of Alberto Contador,defending champion , Contador caught his rival Schleck cold with a late charge on the gruelling 3km climb towards the finish on the Mende Aerodome,the steepest of the Tour; he cut Schleck's overall lead down by 10secs.
Stage 13 goes from Rodez to Revel and is over 196km,it's another transition stage to get the riders down to the Pyrenees where the real action will begin !
.
Briton’s Mark Cavendish out sprinted Alessandro Petacchi to claim his third win of the 2010 Tour de France on stage 11 from Sisteron to Bourg-les-Valence,the 13th of his career !
The win was very controversial after his team mate, Mark Renshaw, from Australia, was involved in an extraordinary tussle with Julien Dean, from a rival team and New Zealand; in the final kilometer he used his helmet,three times to push Dean to the right to give Cavendish the necessary room to hit the front 400m from the finishing line.Renshaw has been kicked off the Tour for headbutting in the side of the New Zealander,Physical contact is permitted but this went a little too far !!!
Luxembourg’s Andy Schleck retained the overall lead after a relatively slow and flat stage through the haute Alps.
Stage 12 is from Bourg-de Paege to Mende over 211kms. and has a short but very stiff climb to a flat finish.
Joaquin Rodriguez sprinted to victory ahead of Alberto Contador,defending champion , Contador caught his rival Schleck cold with a late charge on the gruelling 3km climb towards the finish on the Mende Aerodome,the steepest of the Tour; he cut Schleck's overall lead down by 10secs.
Stage 13 goes from Rodez to Revel and is over 196km,it's another transition stage to get the riders down to the Pyrenees where the real action will begin !
.
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