Nerja and the view from the cliffs

We left the beach for a day and went to see Las Cuevas de Nerja (The Caves in Nerja) which are jaw dropping amazing, and also, impossible to capture in a photo as flash isn't allowed, so none of my pictures came out :-(   But the surrounding area, and the hike we took to a lookout point on the cliffs was so reminiscent of California...some of the shots could be of Big Sur.  In fact, almost all of the flora and fauna here in Southern Spain is found in California, perhaps that's why I feel so at home here.

 

 

Playa el Maro--Nerja, Spain

My friends from Malaga took me on an awesome camping-on-the-beach weekend to an area outside of Malaga called Nerja, which is a typical pueblo blanco  (white town, named for the color of the  buildings) in Southern Spain.  Outside of Nerja is Playa el Maro, a desolate beach where you can still camp without getting a fine from the police. It's desolate and deserted and gorgeous....

 

 

After the long haul up the hill when you leave the beach, you gotta dip in the cool spring that's on the side of the road!!

 

Malaga

I spent several days in Malaga, re-connecting with a group of friends I met last year, who were wonderful hosts and showed me the city, helped me get a bike for a day, and made me feel at home.  Malaga is one of the biggest and most developed coastal beach towns in Spain, but it still has a small-town feel, especially in the city center.  Really, it's all relative---it's a speck compared to Los Angeles....

 

 

 

 

                                Vino de pasas, literally raisin wine, is a specialty in Malaga.  It's super sweet and tasty and makes one feel very warm and fuzzy...

 

Espeto is the typical food from Malaga---fish on spear, grilled over charcoal on the beach...mmmm

 

 

 

 

Los Patios de Cordoba

Each May in Cordoba, El Concurso de los Patios, The Patio Celebration/Competition, takes place,  and los Cordobeses don their patios in their finest regalia to compete for the best patio of the year.  The criteria ranges from amount and color of flowers, to height of the patio with flower placement, and other categories that I can't remember.  Some of the best patios remain open for visitors in the summer, and while the flowers have started to fade a wee bit, I got to see several patios alone...in May the visitors are shoulder to shoulder with lines winding for blocks....I would never be able to capture then what I was able to see this July...

 

The best patios are in the Juderia, the Jewish quarter, and many of the homes here were built during the Moorish (Arab) period of Cordoba history.  The Arabs build deep wells to capture water in small containers to then use to reach the flowers in the highest parts of the patio.  My friend here is holding a traditional water-capturer-pourer....

....and he gets the water from this well (pozo) :

Ahhh Cordoba...

...the Roman bridge, the Mosque, the Guadaquilvir...

 

 

 

 

 

Mi barrio...

....my neighborhood is just lovely.  The end of my street meets the top of a famous little corner in Cordoba..la cuesta de Bailio is a stairway covered with bouganvilla, and at the top there is a dedication to Nuestra Senora de la Paz y Libertad, Our Lady of Peace and Liberty,  and then around the corner from that is Cristo de los Faroles--Christ of the Lanterns...

Here are some samplings of what I see when I wander around my neighborhood...