Landscape from old Roman Ronda

Today was amazing! We hired a car and went to the Pileta caves up in the limestone mountains on the edge of the Grazalema National Park. It was exciting for all sorts of reasons: venturing into the depths of a prehistoric cave with an oil lamp to light our way and no provision for health and safety, we felt as if we were discovering the caves and their paintings for the first time ourselves. The caves were surprisingly warm and you could hear droplets of water forming part of the stalagmite and stalactite structures that were all around us. They were discovered in 1905 by the farmer who owned the land - he had noticed that bats were disappearing into the rock and thought he might quarry their droppings as fertiliser, if only he could find out where they were going. It was some years before pottery and human and animal remains were discovered and the significance of the caves was fully understood. Even so, it felt as if we were the explorers making the first discoveries. The paintings are tremendous and numerous: there are animal pictures, including goats, cattle and beautifully painted horses; a seal, fish, including a large sea fish painted 22,000 years ago - evidence that the people who inhabited the caves had travelled up from the coast; stick men, including a couple of archers; a mass of signs, some stylized representations of animals, some comb-shaped patterns, some symbols indicative of counting time. Some pictures were painted in red, some in black and others in a stunning yellow ochre - we even saw where the painters ground the stone to make their paints. This was a very special visit - you can read more in Arachne's journal here.

On from here we travelled a circuitous route through the mountains to find Roman Ronda, perched up high, at the perfect vantage point to see in every direction. The landscapes were extraordinary - you can see clearly in the one that I've blipped that we are not far from desert. It was bitterly cold but there were recently born lambs frolicking amongst the ruins and wild horses with beautiful velvety coats glistening in the cool sunshine.

Back in Ronda later we followed up two of Andrew's tips for fine food:

First we went for afternoon tea at the Victoria Hotel - a lovely relaxing modern terrace with stunning views over the valley below and across to the mountains. This was where Ernest Hemmingway used to come and stay.

Later we went to eat at the popular Traga Tapas - the food was so delicious it was hard to stop eating and each small dish was bursting with delicately balanced flavours - and the waiter's recommendations were best of all. Truly inventive cuisine in a sleek modern setting, top marks!