On Wednesday we braved a day trip with the car into Malaga, setting off in the miserable rain, and were pleasantly surprised that it soon cleared into sunshine whilst we ventured around the shops, old town and Alcazaba.

I have vague memories of shopping in Malaga, a few years back when I was at a Spanish school close by. If I'm honest, I think at the time, I must have been ignorant to the sights on offer, as I don't recall having visited any of them, and in fact was adamant that there was nothing to see here!

On the contrary, the Alcazaba is a lovely way to spend a few hours, followed by a walk, uphill, to the castle, which is close by. There are also quite a few other sights plus the extremely good cuisine. Did I mention the shopping?!

The only negative to what turned out to be a reasonably nice day in the end, was the cost of the parking when we returned to the car... literally the most expensive parking I have ever had to pay for, and all because (sorry to have to mention it again!) we don't feel comfortable leaving the car anywhere unless it is secure :(!

Leaving Monda/Marbella and Malaga behind we headed across Andalucia straight to Granada.

When we set off it was raining heavily and I was extremely uncomfortable driving the car in the wet without any road markings, an hour or so on and we were already in what seemed like a different country (!) as the weather improved and so did the roads. 
 
Other than a nasty accident involving a lorry, near Salobreña (en route), we reached the Sierra Nevada area fairly easily. The views along the motorways are beautiful, and that isn't something you would expect. The terrain changes from green to desert and then to vast mountains. One beautiful site is the Embalse de Rules (reservoir) as well as the Puente de Lata (bridge), which is worth a stop prior to arriving in Granada.