Casa del Rey Moro, Ronda

This is the tile decoration above the (back) door of the Casa del Rey Moro, opposite our hotel. The house itself has been the subject of a series of planning disputes - it must have one of the most stunning views across the gorge yet the permission to turn it into a hotel has been denied. Although the house is 18th century, it has within its gardens the Moorish water-mine which was built so that the town could have access to water from the river at the bottom of the gorge when the town was under attack. The water carriers would risk their lives descending the 365 slippery roughly hewn steps, through stairways and chambers to the Guadalevin River. We saved the descent for our next visit!

Instead we spent the morning in torrential rain visiting Ronda's Arab baths. The baths are one of the best preserved in Europe and were vast and impressive though our appreciation was somewhat dampened by the weather. You can see the effect of the weather on the steps we did descend here.

Meanwhile in Malaga there was serious flooding and as we travelled on the bus into Malaga in the afternoon we saw whole hillsides being flushed into the rivers and outlets leading into the sea turning the water a murky brown.

We had a great afternoon exploring Malaga as the rain tempered its rage for a while, and then spent some time in the Picasso Museum once it was dark. Such civilised late opening of museums and galleries in Spain... timing nicely with the evening opening of the Citron restaurant in Plaza de la Merced. This was another of Andrew's recommendations and the food and wine were once again very special. The restaurant was full of Spanish people enjoying life and we were greeted warmly. Couldn't have asked for more at the end of a long and damp day.