Austerity Carnival: No Queen but plenty of (Hello) Sailors!

 The local council was true to form and issued these barely legible posters about three days before the start of carnival! The theme was "Musicals" - which gave Claire at Blue Rock a headache, but the bar was decorated on time with references to ten different films.
The showground was prepared as usual, but there was no funfair, and the 3 Euro entrance price was a deterrent in this year of crisis - so not much attendance there - even Drag Night wasn't full! Furthermore we had no Carnival Queen because the necessary quality of costume was beyond the budget!
We missed the opening procession, but caught some glimpses during the week, and it was clear that the main troupes had made a good effort.
For the final Saturday we did our bit with an homage to South Pacific and ate at the American Burger (Chicken George). There were plenty of floats - perhaps a little less lavish than in some years - and too many went down the same Chicago route. Out in the street however there were a number of sailors saluting Bob, drag Sound of Music nuns, a couple of Phantom characters and a lot of Mary Poppins! Mix this with St Patrick's and a good time was had by all until very late.
Next day there was musical-related debris to be seen as we struggled out for the Sardine Funeral!
This year we decided to sacrifice the procession in order to better and more comfortably see the fireworks, so we revisited La Marquesina after many years. When we first started holidaying here it was the only place in the Michelin guide and was a clear favourite. Somehow it has gone off our radar except for the odd daytime tapa, and you will see it gets a bit of a slamming on Trip Advisor. The service was slow, but we had two fishy starters that we remembered as delicious from olden times (and they still are) and shared a half-lobster dish that was also mighty fine! We may have failed to see the late Senor Sardina itself, but we had a very good encounter with fish. The ceremony on the beach was so speedily executed that friends almost missed the fireworks. We had a ring-side position from our table.  After last year's pathetic effort they  were excellent:- perhaps because they were sponsored by our 5-star hotel.