Sometimes you just get lucky. we arrived in Ronda expecting a pretty hilltop town but with no idea that we had arrived on the final day of the annual Feria (local festival) . We were greeted by locals in flamenco costume, streets decorated in coloured lanterns and outsiders who had poured into town for a landmark bullfight and general celebration. We declined the opportunity for the bullfight, tempted by the serendipity and the opportunity to see the pageantry but turned off by the blood, gore and cruelty. Instead we walked around the streets and enjoyed the sideshows of costume, music, colour and celebration. Many little girls and even a couple of dogs were dressed up in fabulous traditional frilly dresses with flowers in ornate hairstyles. I have become quite adept at asking in Spanish 'May I ... read more

Home of Maimonides and his Muslim equivalent Averoës, seat of the Caliphate and a major triumph of the Reconquista, Cordoba is steeped in history for all three Abrahamic religions. We began our historical tour yesterday by exploring the Juderia, which includes the Plaza Juda Levi and Plaza Maimonides and the Casa Sfard, a Jewish Museum with a strong emphasis on Maimonides. One fascinating thing we learned was that the Spanish still use the term 'mantenerse sus trece' (literally to hold one's 13) to mean to hold one's ground, a reference to Maimonides', 13 Principles of Faith. Casa Sfard also had a small but interesting exhibition about significant Jewish women of historic Cordoba, with imaginative photographic images of how they may have looked. The synagogue is closed for renovations in the lead-up to its 700th anniversary but ... read more

Another wonderful day of art viewing in elegant Madrid. We went to the Museo Thyssen Bornemisza, a private collection which covers the entire development of Western art from pre-Renaissance until the end of 20th Century. It has examples of almost every big name you can think of - and often choice selections. We decided to work backwards and start with the most recent work, which turned out to be an excellent decision. Although the collection has strong pieces from every period we particularly liked the 20C selections. Our favourite room contained two Chagalls ( including the lovely warm Boy with Rooster) a Picasso harlequin, an awesome dreamy Dali, Magritte's witty Chef de Clamps, two Ernsts and two Tanguys! Talk about amazement overload. A special treat was an Ernst called Solitary and Conjugal Trees which I remembered ... read more

We are now in Madrid, centre of Royal and Catholic Spain with its magnificent palaces and plazas, baroque architecture and wonderful art galleries. Unfortunately neither the Palacio Real, where we began our Madrid tour yesterday, nor the Museo del Prado which we visited today, allows photos so you will just have to take my word for the beauties we are seeing inside and see photos of the plazas, buildings and parks. The Palacio Real and Madrid Cathedral sit on either side of a vast arched courtyard. Inside the Palacio is room after room of sumptuous decoration, each individual in style and colour and including marble mosaic floors, fresco ceilings (several by Tiepolo), detailed velvet wallpapers and matching upholstery, gold and marble inlaid tables and some 250 ornate clocks, not to mention painting and sculpture. One room ... read more

Donastìa (Basque) or San Sebastián (Spanish) is a beautiful coastal town with grand 19th promenades and wedding cake buildings, almost Parisian in style. I suppose the French can take credit for the architecture in a perverse way because it was rebuilt in the 19th Century after being devastated during the Napoleonic wars. Today it is a beach playground for Europeans and we joined the throngs to walk the beachfront promenade and soak up the sun. San Sebastián is famous for pintxos, the Basque word for tapas, and there are dozens of pintos bars in the old town many of them specialising in particular delicacies. The portions are all hors d'oeuvre size so you can easily eat a few but given the range the toughest thing about a holiday here is deciding ... read more