We have just completed two sun soaked weeks in Andalucía, meeting up with various waifs and strays along the way and indulging in lots of good food and cheap wine!

We began with a few healthy(ish) days in the wild and windy Sierra Nevada. We managed to get one decent walk in on the icy and windswept mountains when the weather permitted and sampled plenty of the local "vino de terreno" when it didn't!

We then headed to the Costa del Sol picking my Dad up from Malaga airport en-route and meeting up with Pam's parents once again in a resort just west of Marbella, the villa was very nice with a lovely courtyard garden which afforded us a couple of barbeques and a driftwood bonfire one night.

The coastal town of Marbella and the mountain village of Mijas provided us with a couple of excursions as well as a day trip to Gibraltar where we were able to enjoy a pint of beer and some good English pub grub.

After the collective of parents flew home we drove to Seville to meet up with some less sophisticated company, my cousin Doug, basing ourselves at a campsite just out of town. During our four days in Seville we got to know the tapas bar scene intimately and there are vague memories of a big cathedral and the Alcazar.

Doug decided it would be nice to take a whole leg of ham back home. To the bemusement and amusement of the supermarket staff he was given special security clearance to take his case in so measurements could be made. With just the trotter protruding it was decided the deal would be done!

Having waved off Doug and his ham we are now alone once again and heading for the Portuguese hills in the hope of physical and financial recovery ;-)