Month: June 2013

The hotel is a lazy 15 minutes walk to the Alcazar, an enclosure of palaces and gardens, and we took an even lazier hour to get there. The Moorish palaces, gardens and courtyards were on the scale and grandeur of the Alhambra in Granada and we enjoyed our few hours  rambling, sitting, rambling, sitting.

Sharon has an app on her phone called Map My Ride http://www.mapmyride.com and we have had it on occasionally to track where and how far we have walked for the day. She had a link to its website the other day that showed people walking/riding routes in the shape of bicycles, guitars and the like to win prizes. Our routes all look like bowls of spaghetti.

The old markets in Seville were knocked down years ago and new ones built in their place in Plaza Royal. This structure was built above it and the archaeological dig of the old markets is below the ground floor. Remarkable.

A brilliant day on the road and an equally fine afternoon in Ronda this afternoon. On the road upwards from the motorway into the mountains we spied some villages across the ridges so when we saw some signs heading in that direction, away we went.

Driving into one white pueblo, we passed a large man sitting in a chair at the side of the road who yelled out a friendly greeting. On the way back he hailed us down so we stopped. We both spoke in gibberish for a few minutes talking about who knows what and then when he cottoned on we were Australian, said,

“Un minuto,” and hurriedly carried his ample frame inside his white house and returned with an envelope from which he pulled a postcard. It had a picture of sheep shearers in Orange, NSW and he was quite excited to share it with us. We parted as old friends and the few minutos we spent with him were quite memorable.

Ronda is in most guide books as a must see for good reason and the four hours we spent walking around this cliff top town was most enjoyable.

Views to the valley and distant mountains were remarkable. A very high bridge passes a deep gorge which divides the town and I walked down a narrow path along the cliff for a few snaps.

Over a cold drink at the end of the day, we agreed Ronda was a good pick.

I never thought we’d get out of Granada after seeing how the car was sardined in the underground car park. I must have done a 100 point turn or more to get out and without the assistance of a couple, who I rewarded with a bottle of wine I had bought earlier, I think I’d still be there.

Julie’s book took us into the Sierra Nevada winding up the switchbacks to the white towns of  Pampaneira, Bubion and Capileira.

The book told us they were Moorish in nature with flat roofs and unusual chimneys typical only of this area, and they were!

The Costa del Sol was at the end of a lovely drive down the mountain through large gorges and as we neared tonight’s rest, around the coastline. The light is unusual here, hazy and filtered making colours in the afternoon quite saturated. Topless ladies on the beach are quite dangerous as they earned me a sharp dig in the ribs.

This place is obviously popular with Germans, not just because we saw lots in the street and where we ate. German bakers, eateries and supermarkets were all in one small area. Not an Aussie in sight except the one I spied at the pool.