Portugal, Spain and Baltic Cruise: Ronda & Granada

Leaving Marbella, we drove up the mountains to the cliff top town of Ronda where we were met by local tour guides who took us on a walking tour of this ancient town. Ronda is set high on a plateau and has spectacular views of cultivated fields in the valley below and mountain ranges in the distance.

Among the buildings we saw was Spain's oldest bullfighting ring. In Portugal it is illegal to kill the bull in the ring but it is still done in Spain despite protests. Matadors are revered almost as much as royalty but they do risk their lives every time they enter a ring.

We enjoyed a lunch in Ronda then boarded the bus for the drive to Granada. They have a system on the bus where each day we move 2 seats back and so everyone gets a turn of the front seats. This seems to work well.

Our Hotel in Granada is the Alhambra Palace Hotel which is a short walk from the world famous Alhambra Palace which dates back to the 13th century. Before dinner we were treated to another flamenco show with 3 dancers, a singer and a guitarist. It was very well done and fortunately we were seated further away from the stage this time!

Today at 8.30am we walked up to the Alhambra Palace with our local guide and did a 21/2 hour tour of this 'Moorish' palace and gardens. It was really good to be there as it opened to visitors as the numbers swelled considerably over the next few hours. Apparently about 7,000 people visit the Palace each day. It was originally built by a Muslim sultan to be a "paradise on earth" but within a century the Muslims were banished by the Spanish Christian King Charles never to return. The whole of Granada was a walled city with the huge palace on the hill overlooking the town.

We enjoyed lunch today (trying Spanish Paella) at a nearby restaurant again with spectacular views. Since it was then the hottest part of the day, we did what the Spanish do and had a siesta, Around 5pm we did our own sightseeing in the town seeing the burial sites of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella who in the 15th century commissioned Christopher Colombus to find an ocean route to India and China - instead he found America.

The Spanish day apparently goes like this: wake up at 8am, have coffee & toast for breakfast ; start work between 9 and 10; at 12 stop for morning tea; at 2 have lunch and siesta; start work again at 6 until 10; have dinner at 11 and go to bed by 1am. Concerts held in the outdoors here start at 10pm after the sun goes down and would probably run til midnight. Not sure how the school day goes but they are on summer holidays at the moment so that they don't have to cope with the heat at school.