100 Ton Gun

One of two 100 Ton Guns sited to cover the entire bay of Gibraltar. Whenever it was test fired the residents of Gibraltar were told to move breakable objects from shelves and to leave their windows open!
 

 The gun was never fired in anger.

M&S

Gibraltar is a strange mix of England and Spain - very British with policeman, red phone boxes and "proper" traffic lights but with a laid back Spanish influence - it even has M&S!

Gibraltar

Em's parents arrived yesterday and we met them at Gibraltar airport - the road into Gibraltar crosses the runway so all traffic has to wait for aircraft to land and takeoff.

We took a drive around whilst they settled in and then went to meet then in their hotel, aptly named "The Rock"! We went to see their room and stood on the balcony admiring the view across the bay. There was a bump and a monkey appeared on the wall adjoining the balconies, we watched him for a while and took some pics. Suddenly it jumped down from the wall, shot in through the open patio door, stole some hot-cross buns and ran out again before we could blink!

Top of the rock looking north towards Spain.

Cheeky monkey

This monkey was determined to remove the taxi's aerial......

.... or wiper blades!

It's a hard life zzzzzzz

 Africa! You can just make out the mountains on the skyline.

The Rock

This morning we drove to a carpark at La Linea de Conception which is on the Spanish side of the Gibraltar border. Em's parents are coming out for a few days so tomorrow we'll move to a campsite just up the road.

Sunrise in the Mountains

After leaving Ronda we drove south through the mountains and stopped for the night at a Mirador (viewpoint). Next morning we woke to see a beautiful sunrise over the mountains.

Ronda

After a week away working in Sweden, Steve returned to Kiki (and Em!) on Saturday afternoon. We had a lazy day on the beach on Sunday and left the campsite on Monday morning. We drove north to the town of Ronda which is perched on top of a rocky outcrop.

 Ronda has the largest and one of the oldest bullrings in Spain

 

 

Full Moon

The biggest full moon in 20 years. 

Another Anniversary - Another Hard Rock

Today marks our 18 month Anniversary so in keeping with tradition we went our for a meal to Hard Rock in Marbella.

Up Into The Hills

From our campsite near Marbella we have today ridden our scooter up into the hills above the town.


Ojen - another of the Pueblo Blanco's

Processional Caterpillars - one of the most bizzare things we've seen!

Ibex on a rocky outcrop - unfortunately it's only a model

View from our lunch spot

Em enjoys a little sunbathing after lunch

Puerto Banus, Marbella

Today we're visiting Puerto Banus which is where the rich and famous hang out. We drove through Marbella en-route to the port but didn't bother to stop as it looked like any other big seaside town.


Multi-million pound motor yachts fill the marina

On of the many beaches along the Costa del Sol - unfortunately the water's not quite warm enough to swim in yet.

Malaga

We're now staying on a campsite approx 15km to the east of Marbella and today we're visiting Malaga which is the birthplace of Picasso.


We visited the Picasso gallery which has over 100 of his works and is housed in the rather nice 16th Century Buenavista Palace. Em played the "teacher" card and got in for free!

The Cathedral - they ran out of money before the second tower was finished and it has never been completed!

The unfinished tower

El Torqal

After spending last night parked up next to the visitor centre at 1200m above sea level, today we're visiting El Torqual. At the top of a mountain approx 30km to the north of Malaga, El Torqal is an area of towering limestone outcrops that have been eroded into strange shapes by the wind and rain.

A labyrinth of rocks, depressions, corridors, crevises, cliffs and ledges - perfect hide & seek ground - reminded us of Dartmoor

Hold on tight - it's windy up here :-)

A plate of sandwiches anyone?

Ten Thousand Miles

Today we clocked up 10,000 miles since the beginning of Kiki's European Adventure in July 2010.

We're currently parked up for the night on top of a mountain at 1,200m (approx 4000ft) in thick, thick cloud (this pic was taken the next morning when the cloud lifted)

Nerja

After visiting the caves, we had lunch in the carpark then drove west to Nerja where we were surprised to find a large carpark that enabled us to visit the town.

Em meets king Alfonso XII who named the "Balcon de Europe" in 1885

Em on the Balcon de Europe - jutting out into the Mediterranean with Africa just below the horizon!

Cuevas de Nerja

Today we're visiting the Cuevas de Nerja which were discovered by five young boys in 1959.


The caves were inhabited 20,000 years ago and there are some cave paintings (not open to the public)

Quite impressive although we were spoilt by the stunning caves we saw in Italy.

The largest column (stalagmite joined up to a stalagtite) in the world - over 50m tall

Salobreña

After leaving the campsite in Granada we have returned to the coast and stopped for the night at Salobreña which is "the most attractive town on this strip of coast" - we feel sorry for the rest!

Wandering around we came across what appeared to be a childrens play area with cadged birds - this peacock put on quite a display.

Alhambra - The Nasrid Palaces

The Nasrid Palaces largely date from the 14th century when king Yusuf I was the ruler of Granada.

 
The palace is a fantasy of delicate arches, intricate carvings and trickling fountains.

Modest materials were used (plaster, timber and tiles) but they were superbly worked.

The ceiling of the Sala de los Abencerrajes was inspired by Pythagoras' theorum 

Beautiful plasterwork on all of the walls

Another amazing ceiling - this one is inlaid wood.

Em's artistic pic shows the detail on these archways

Alhambra - The Generalife

The Generalife was the summer palace of the rulers of Granada

Gardens with lots of fountains and water provided a welcome summer retreat from the heat  

Throught the arched windows today we can see the Royal Palace of the Alhambra

Beautiful detail on all of the walls and ceilings