CORDOBA

Drove north east to Cordoba where we got a real fancy hotel, well for me anyhow and it was on the outskirts of town in the hills.
 Called Juan Carlos whom I had stay with me when he was in Montana on his world trip about 20 months ago and he had just arri ed back home 3 weeks ago from that trip. We had a great reunion  and went to his Mas Gas Club and then out for dinner. Was great to catch up and hear about his travels.
We explored Cordoba and it is a beautiful city with centuries of history and churches and ruins as the photos below depict.

The Roman Bridge over the Guadalquivir and the Great Mosque - Cathedral of Cordoba built in 784 - 786 AD

The Roman  Bridge

Puerta del Puente, one of the three remaining of the thirteen original gates leading into Old town.

The Roman walls surrounding the Old town

Juan Carlos at Mas Gas Club

The renowned arches inside the church

Part

Private courtyards they open to the public

Spectacular flower display

My favourite picture of Cordoba, Calleja de Las Flores

Great wall art throughout the city

GIBRALTAR AND RONDA

Car rental here is crazy , can get a car for $26 for 28 days ! So we got one but upgraded to a Volkswagen TDI for 14 Euro's. Drove down to Gibraltar for the day, but it was a typical English day with drizzle and clouds and tourists.
Gibraltar is only 2.6 square miles and the landscape is dominated by the Rock of Gibraltar which is home to 33 000 Gibraltarians. The Brits still rule it and you need a passport to enter and then you have to walk or drive over the airport runway to enter the town. We walked the 2.5 km into town and then took the cable car to the top where I was lucky enough to get a quick glimpse over the edge of the cliff before the clouds covered it. Went and explored the caves of which there is 33 miles of them carved into the rock in different areas, then walked down to an old castle and then back into town and walked back to the car. Then I drove back in and drove around the entire Gibraltar and back into Spain and to our lovely hotel 10km away.

The following day we drove through the countryside for hours to Ronda. The rolling hills as far as the eye can see are a rich green from all the rains they received a month ago and combined with the villages that are hanging off the cliffs all painted white with orange roof, makes for some spectacular scenery.
Ronda is 100 km west of Malaga with a population of 37 000 and sits on a hillside and is a beautiful  siight from below with it's famous bridge Puente Nuevo which spans the canyon and was built in 1751 and took 42 years to build and is 390 ft tall.

 Rock of Gibraltar

 Crossing the runway to enter the town

 View from the top of the rock

 View of the south side

View of the town and harbour

 Inside the tunnel

 One end of the tunnel which is open

 Driving around the south side of Gibraltar

 The only beach and hotel on the south side

 

 The famous lighthouse

RONDA

 Looking up at Rondo

 Puente Nuevo Bridge

 Short video from above

 Walkway along the the edge of the cliffs

 From the bridge looking in the canyon

 Beer and wine

 Cobbled streets

 Pork  Leg mounted to be finely cut

 Pork is the meat of choice

 Sintenel, where the houses are built into the overhangs

SPAIN - MALAGA

The ferry only takes 45 minutes and you arrive in Europe and it's like a whole different world. Caught a bus to Malaga which is three hours away and then walked and found the apartment we rented for four days. It was brand new and very nice inside and just a five minute walk into the heart of the old town and harbour.
The beach and harbour area is beautiful with topless women on the beach, who really shouldn't be topless. With numerous restaurants and Tapa bars there is no shortage of good places to eat and drink. Had some of the best tapas and paella and cold beer which was a relief after three weeks with no beer, which proves I am not an alcoholic. The guys start early here and are chugging beer at 10 am, almost like my neighbor back home.
Malaga sure is a vibrant city with beautiful  beaches and hundreds of restaurants and high end stores, so there is always something to see and do.