A STEP BACK IN TIME AT ALHAMBRA

A panoramic view of Alhambra with the town of Granada in the valley below. Note the clear blue sky.

Yesterday we signed up for a day trip to Alhambra in Granada. The route took us through undulating country - hillslopes covered with olive trees alternating with green fields of asparagus. Pedro, our tour guide, told us that the asparagus grown here is unique to the region and specially farmed for laboratory research on finding a cure for prostate cancer.

Part of the Gardens

The camera just can't quite capture the beauty of Moorish architecture.

Imagine this was sculptured 700 years ago!

Explaining how this lacquered piece was done.


The narrow alleys of Medina lined with stalls selling arts and crafts. (Click on image to enlarge.)


The deserted streets during siesta time from 2-5pm.

More pictures tomorrow. Too tired to write much, but enjoying every minute of my Spain vacation. The countdown has begun - tomorrow's our last day here. We are leaving for London on Friday, and then it's back to Kuala Lumpur.

For now, it's "Buenas noches" or "Good night".

THE VIEW FROM GIBRALTAR

Gibraltar with Spain in the background.

Lynette, Peggy and I must have taken at least a thousand photos over the past few days. But they can never do justice to many of the spectacular sights we have seen so far. Our trip to Gibraltar today is a good example.

Our bus took the scenic route along the Costa del Sol. Apparently there are three nudist beaches here. Pity none of us had our binoculars with us!

The high rise apartments take away some of the majesty of the Rock, don't you think?

Inside St Martin's Cave.

Our tour guide, Pedro, and our bus driver, Martin, kept us in stitches with their terrific sense of humour. They are true professionals - no matter how many hundreds of times they have made this trip their enthusiasm rubbed off on the tourists in their charge. If only more people took such pride in their work

Time out for fish and chips in Gibraltar's main square.

Monkeys everywhere - all looking for food.

Posing for the camera with Africa (Morroco) in the background.


Two words for roads in Gibraltar - STEEP and NARROW.

The weather has been lovely so far - lots of sun and clear blue skies every day. We start off early tomorrow at 6.30am for Granada. The highlight of the tour is a visit to the AlHambra. Will post more photos after the tour.