GIBRALTAR & LAST LAZY DAY

THE ROCK

WINDSOR SUSPENSION FOOTBRIDGE

THIS ONE IS GEORGE, THE BOSS

SOME OF GEORGE'S MANY SUBJECTS

CLIMBING UP TO THE RIDGE

VIEW OF GIBRALTER TOWN, HARBOUR & AIRSTRIP

AN EXCELLENT RESTAURANT

COURTYARD OF MUSEO PICASSO MALAGA

HAVING A BIT OF A SONG & DANCE

STILL TALKING

Monday 12th, and bus tickets had been booked with Avanza to take us to the town of La Linea de la Concepcion (often shortened to La Linea) - departing at 6.45am, so we were still half asleep during the three hour journey west along the Spanish coast.

We were on our way to see Gibraltar, and La Linea is the town immediately north of the border with the well-known British Overseas Territory. As the bus drew close, the famous Rock of Gibraltar increasingly dominated our field of view. It was our mission for the day to climb it.

From La Linea bus station it took just a few minutes to walk to passport control where we were quickly waved through. Reaching the town of Gibraltar involved a walk across the airstrip - we had to wait a few minutes while an easyJet airliner landed.

The plan was to walk through the town to Europa Point at the southernmost tip of Gibraltar, and then return by walking over the rock itself. We noted that there were bastions, gun emplacements and other defences almost everywhere, dating from the Moorish occupation right through to the Second World War. The British Army, Royal Navy and RAF are permanently based here.

At Europa Point is a lighthouse, a Christian church and a mosque, the latter confirming that a Moslem population remains here long after the Moorish occupation ended.

The so-called 'Upper Rock' is actually a Nature Reserve which we entered via the Jews' Gate. As walkers, our entry fee was just 50p each, although this apparently goes up to £4 in April.

We were given a map showing the various paths on the rock, and followed a route which took us initially to Windsor Suspension Footbridge and then to  Douglas Lookout. We soon came into contact with the famous Barbary Macaques (often referred to as apes, but actually a breed of tailless monkey) that roam freely in the Nature Reserve. They were well used to humans and amused us with their antics. One jumped on my back and attempted to remove my jacket from my rucksack before I shook him off.

On reaching the highest point of our walk at the Cable Car Station (which didn't seem to be running at the time) we found the views were hampered by the wet fog at the 387m altitude. However, as we started to descend, the views opened up. We could clearly see, Gibralter town, La Linea, the airstrip and the harbour. We had hoped to see HMS Queen Elizabeth in the harbour, since we had seen her distinctive twin control towers as we crossed the airstrip on the walk in. I learned that she had arrived on the 9th, Gibralter being her first overseas visit, but she had 'snuck' out without us noticing while we climbed the rock.

It was downhill from thereon, passing by the Limekiln, the City Under Siege Exhibition and the Moorish Tower before eventually getting back to town. Satisfied that we done all we intended, we headed back through passport control to La Linea to look for somewhere to eat. Although it was past 6.00pm, few restaurants were serving yet. We ended up with a Burger King meal deal which we ate in the bus station whilst waiting for our ride back to Malaga. It was gone midnight before we finally got to sleep.

Given the previous long day, we deserved a bit of a lie-in on our last full day in Malaga, and when we did get up the first priority was to buy whatever gifts we needed to bring home. I wanted to visit the Museo Picasso Malaga, where a substantial collection of Picasso's work was on display. Rubi amused herself in the shops while I spent two and a half hours looking at Picasso's paintings, scultures and etchings.

For the rest of the day we simply enjoyed wandering around the town, drinking Spanish wine in the sun and eating a fine meal at La Cueva restaurant. After a Jack Daniels nightcap in a friendly local bar, we returned to the apartment for our last night. 

Our return to the UK the following day, to much cooler, wetter weather, was quite uneventful - except for the extremely bumpy landing at Gatwick due to high winds. Rubi said she thought the wings nearly touched the runway. I was too busy trying to finish off a Suduko puzzle before we had to exit the plane.

GRANADA & MALAGA

THE ALHAMBRA

SUNNY MAYBE, BUT COLD

THE PALACIO DE LOS LEONES

WASHINGTON IRVING WROTE 'TALES OF THE ALHAMBRA'

CALLE MARQUES DE LARIOS AT NIGHT

PLAZA DE LA MERCED

FROM THE CASTILLO DE GIBRALFARO

THE CASTILLO DE GIBRALFARO

MALAGA HARBOUR & THE OLD BULLRING

THE CENTRE POMPIDOU

IN MALAGA NATURE PARK

PICASSO LOOKED WELL BRONZED IN THE SUN

It was still dark as we walked briskly through the Malaga streets to catch the 7.00am bus to Granada.

From the moment I had booked the holiday, it had been my intention that we visit the famous Moorish palace/fortress complex of the Alhambra in Granada. However, I hadn't realised that they limit the daily number of visitors who can enter the Nasrid dynasty palaces, and tickets are generally sold out weeks in advance. After much internet searching I was lucky enough to find a company offering guided tours that still had some tickets and, though it cost us three times the price, did at least get us in. It turned out that I has bought the company's last two tickets for the day!!

Of course, we still needed to get to Granada and had purchased tickets for the ALSA Bus on the previous day. The journey was really smooth and comfortable, and by 8.45am we had arrived at Granada bus station, located in the suburbs of the city. Another bus took us to the city centre, and from there we walked uphill for a good 20 minutes to reach the main entrance of the Alhambra complex where we would meet our guide. We arrived in good time for the 11.00am start of the tour.

Our guide was Anna, who spoke excellent English. She took us first to Palacio del Generalife, the Summer Palace of the Nasrid sultans, which is outside the fortified walls. The Muslims occupied Spain for around 700 years, until driven out by Christian armies in the 'reconquesta'. Sadly, much of the Muslim architecture and decoration of the Palacio del Generalife has been modified or destroyed since the 'reconquesta'.

Next, we passed through the gate into the walled Medina or city area. We saw the foundations of houses destroyed by Napoleon Bonaparte, simply because he couldn't take the Alhambra back to France with him. The complex is vast, so it took is a short while to reach the Palacio de Carlos V. This building, constructed by a Catholic King of Spain, is rather out of place in an otherwise Moslem enclosure.

We proceeded to the Alcazaba or Fortress, a military area with a clear defensive function that was the first part of the Alhambra constructed. Finally, we entered the Nasrid palaces, in turn the Palacio del Mexuar (ordered to be built by Sultan Ismael I), the Palacio de Comares (due to Yusef I) and the Palacio de Los Leones (due to Muhammad V). In spite of the ravages of time, the quality of the Moslem artistry and workmanship that made these palaces such impressive places in their time is still clearly evident. We exited the palace area into El Partal, once the site of further palaces, but now terraced gardens.

Our tour had taken a full three hours. After a late picnic lunch, we walked back down to Granada city centre. There were lots of shops and interesting buildings to look at, so we slowly ambled our way all the way back the to Bus Station. We had bought an open ticket and assumed that we could return to Malaga on any bus we chose. However, we hadn't reckoned on our selected bus being full. After a minor panic, we got yourselves onto an alternative bus which took us swiftly back to Malaga. By the time we got back to the apartment it was nearly 9.00pm and dark, but we still managed to summon enough energy to prepare a supper of sausages and vegetables.

The following Saturday morning involved a rather slower start, but at least it was nice and warm outside by the time we exited our digs. It was supposed to be carnival season in Malaga, so we headed down to the Plaza de la Constitution to see what was going on. Not a lot as it happens! Since we were in the main shopping district we consoled ourselves with a little retail therapy. Once we were satiated, we decided to climb up to Castillo de Gibralfaro, the fortress that overlooks Malaga. It was a steep climb with the sun beating down on us, but well worth it. We walked the full distance around the fortress walls, stopping for our picnic lunch along the way. The views over the city, the sea to the south and the hills to the North, were spectacular.

Our walk back down took us past the old bullfighting ring and on towards the lighthouse. There were lots of shops in the harbour area and the noisy presence of a rock and roll band signalled that there was a carnival after all. The was also a huge multi-coloured plastic cube dominating the harbour wall which we later established was the 'Centre Pompidou Malaga', the first international branch of the famous Parisian art gallery.

On Sunday we decided to 'head for the hills'. Gleaning what information I could from free local maps, and with a bit of help from Google, I reckoned that we could find a walking route to the Mountains of Malaga Nature Park. We headed North East along streets and through residential areas until we came to a footpath that took us to the summit of Monte Victoria. From there, we located a path that took us down the other side, crossing over the A7 Autovia (motorway) and into the Nature Park. We passed a nice little bar-cafe along the way and each enjoyed a San Miguel light beer with a free tapas, whilst bathing in the warm sun.

We spent about an hour and a half aimlessly following rough footpaths around the park until we found a quiet spot for lunch. We headed back to Malaga on a rough compass bearing, using a stream bed to guide us, and eventually exited the Park by passing under the the viaduct that supported the A7.

We stopped for a second time at the same bar-cafe as before to enjoy another beer and tapas. Rubi asked if we could have some olives too, which the waitress duly brought to us, but refused to accept any additional payment for when we left.

We skirted around Monte Victoria on our return trek and were soon back at the Plaza de la Merced. We thought it was about time we took a photo of the seated bronze figure of Picasso in the Plaza. He birthplace, close by, is now a museum run by the 'Fundacion Picasso'. As luck would have it, entry was free between 4.00pm and 8.00pm on a Sunday.

WOT! ANOTHER HOLIDAY?

ARRIVAL IN MALAGA'S PASEO DEL PARQUE

NOW, WHICH WAY UP DOES THE MAP GO?

OUR APARTMENT NEAR PLAZA DE LA MERCED

MALAGA RAILWAY STATION

NEAR THE CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART

EYE, EYE, BUT NOT IN LONDON

CALLE MARQUES DE LARIOS

RUBI PRACTISING HER FAVOURITE HOBBY 

It's February 2018, and there has been plenty going on since we came back from Ireland last August. We spent a week at Longmynd House in Church Stretton at the end of August, with me guiding walking guests for HF Holiday's and Rubi as a guest herself. The weather was great and exploring the Shropshire Hills on foot was a real pleasure.

The other significant event was that I sold my holiday home in Dartmouth. It has provided many happy memories during my 17 years of ownership, but work is thin these days so I need to cut down my outgoings and have some capital to call upon.

Like last year, February is an ideal time to take a cheap European holiday somewhere warmer than the UK, and this year's destination is........Malaga, on the Spanish Costa del Sol.

Wednesday February 7th, and after an early morning start we flew from Gatwick. The airport bus from Malaga Airport finally dropped us at Paseo Del Parque near the centre around mid-afternoon. It was coolish, but the sun warmed us as it peeked its face from behind the clouds.

We were travelling light, so immediately headed for a tourist information office to get some maps and advice on what to see in the city. The Picasso Museum naturally came high on the list. A slow wander through the streets brought us to our apartment near the Plaza de la Merced, close to Picasso's birthplace.

Our apartment was quite cold, and we needed the owner's advice on how to operate the air conditioning unit to get it warm. It was quite chilly outside by the evening, so after a supper comprising leftovers we had brought over from the UK, we opted for an early night.

Next morning we headed off to the bus station, to the west of the city, roughly a half hour's brisk walk away. We needed to book bus tickets to Granada for the following day, and to Gibralter for the following Monday. With a little advice from helpful locals, the process turned out to be quite simple.

We walked back to the city centre via the railway station and the docks, passing the Centro de Arte Contemporaneo (Centre for Contemporary Art) and a big wheel similar to the London Eye, only a bit smaller. A walk up the pedestrianised Calle Marques de Larios took us through the main shopping hub to the Plaza de la Constitution, where an information office provided us with a map of Granada, useful for the following day's excursion.

Rubi found a nice clothes shop and bought a pretty dress. There, we bumped into a chatty lady from Brighton, travelling solo, who had come over on the same flight as us. She ended up buying a similar dress.

We continued east through the jumbled streets, looking for a non-touristy place to have lunch. Finally we found a locals' cafe on Calle Victoria which offered a 3-course 'menu del dia' with wine for €9.25 each. Cracking!

We had eaten quite late, so by the time we walked a little more and visited the supermarket to stock up with food, it was time to get some rest. We needed to rise by 5.00am the following morning to catch a bus, so another early night beckoned.