Every morning I stand at the kitchen window waiting to hear the whistle of the kettle and the buzzing of the mechanical tree-shaker, and then I look out across a sea of olive trees to see if I can spot the one that is shaking. It's great being here during the harvest, and sometimes we have passed the harvesters whilst out on a hike and watched the olives come rolling down the hillside into the nets.

It's mostly been hiking this week, across the vast green meadows of the Hidden Valley below skies filled with circling Griffon vultures, sharing lunch with goats beneath the highest peaks of the Grazalema Natural Park, and between white towns built by the Islamic Moors on precarious mountainsides high above the connecting rivers. A railway connects some of these pueblos blancos, which is convenient for one-way walks.

Each walk has been followed by an evening of fine food in the local tapas bars and restaurants, relaxing with a glass of local wine in our outdoor hot tub beneath the stars, then drying off by the log fire. Our little house in Montejaque really had everything!

Since we had a hire car for the week, we have also been enjoying some scenic drives though rolling countryside, visiting Ronda with its famous bull ring and high bridges over the gorge, and Setenil de las Bodegas with houses and cafes built into rock overhangs. With so much to see around the world, there aren't many places that I go to twice, but Andalucia is an area to which I could happily keep coming back.

Posted on October 25th 2015.