A nice gentle start to the day. We wake around nine, have breakfast and lounge around awhile. We have tickets to see the Andalucian horse show but it does not start till midday. All the same we want to make sure we are there in time so we leave in that general direction allowing 30-40 minutes. In fact, it only takes us fifteen minutes and for once we find the place straight away. OK so we are about an hour early but no matter we are allowed into the grounds. Our ticket allows us entry to the palace and the saddlery. Plus we can go to see the horses training. This gives us ample time to see everything before the show. We walk through the shady gardens, behind the palace and on to the saddlery. A ... read more

This morning we pack up early. Ian cooks me fried eggs which is very nice. It’s a pity all the sliced bread here is sweet - we just can’t keep the fresh bread as it always goes stale overnight. Our destination is only two hours drive away but we are taking a bit of a detour to a swimming lake at Arco de Frontier. No major hassles on the road so far today although the police are out in force doing speed traps. Given the frequency of speed limit changes along the roads here it would be easy to get caught out! We are taking it steady and annoying those that want to exceed the limits. Though there are a number of crawler lanes which we use to let those in a hurry carry on. Ian ... read more

We are moving on today. Our cases are packed, the room checked…we are ready to go. We have two points of interest on the way out of town that require a detour off the main road. First a viewpoint where we will be able to see the place we have been staying, and reportedly also as far as Malaga? And second, the Bobastra Ruins, which don’t look much on the internet but we may as well go since we will be passing! It’s 9am and we assume the guy will let us out through his barrier. I’d hoed to leave earlier to avoid any hassle but I’m guessing getting out will be easier than getting in! Ian drives gingerly down the rutted track…he knows where all the danger spots are now but, lovely as our pension ... read more

We are in El Chorro. People generally only come here to do one of three insane things…to rock climb, to ride horses or to go hiking. All three are scarey propositions in our book but for some strange reason we are here to do the latter. So, this morning we (I!) have tickets booked to walk the ‘El Caminito del Rey’ (The King's Little Path). Once labelled ‘the most dangerous walk in the world’, and a magnet for thrill seekers, this path has now been revamped and deemed semi-safe to walk. Numbers are restricted, hence the need to reserve tickets months in advance. The walkway, which is 1m wide and set along the face of a steep sided mountain with a gorge 100m below, was built for construction workers at the nearby hydro electric plants at ... read more

It’s a very early start today. We have planned a day trip to the twin towns of Úbeda and Baeza, but they are 150 km from Granada. We don’t want to drive in rush hour, but neither do we want to be too late as the Spanish have a horrible habit of shutting up shop to siesta for hours on end in the afternoons so we have to get cracking early! It’s still dark as we leave the hotel at 7am. There is no daylight saving here! Our rental car, way up the hill from our hotel is still in one piece, that’s a relief. We reluctantly vacate our position on the road fearing that it will be gone when we return. Seriously the ‘public parking in the street may be possible’ should be reported to ... read more