Ronda, Spain

The bus ride from Malaga to Ronda takes only about two hours and it's such a beautiful journey but the roads are severely hilly and winding so much so that I was feeling nauseous.   We are up so high in the mountains and the views are simply gorgeous.

Holes to plant more olive trees

The Ronda bus depot is teeny-tiny.  I get Google Maps operational and walk to my Air B&B in about 10 minutes.  Of course, I took a wrong turn so by the time I show up at the door, Angel, my host is waiting for me outside.  His English is nil but he points to his watch and says "bus" so I guess when I didn't show up in the 5 minutes the walk should have taken he thought it best to wait for me at the outside door to his building.

I am blown away by what I see.  Inside the main door is a literal plaza.  I mean you could easily throw a big party right there in the middle of these buildings.  There are four sections to this building, Angel is in Section #3.  I still don't get it and don't think I would have found his apartment on my own, the place is that huge.

The interior lobby area of my Air B&B.
This is on the 2nd floor, and then you walk up the short steps to each home.

 The building is massive.  The next day I see that it takes up what looks to be an entire block.

Angel's "suite" is massive too.  I would estimate, just from the rooms he showed me (and there were doors he did not open up and show), that his apartment is easily 1600 square feet if not larger.  The rooms are very big, even the kitchen is very large.  The bathroom is excessively spacious. with a jacuzzi tub and a bidet  My bedroom is very nice.  He has a desk in there with a chair, and a huge wardrobe closet.  So nice that I had to take a photo of it.

This is the indoor plaza area once you come inside the building

My bedroom

It's already around 3:00 PM and I've only got today and tonight here in Ronda so I'd better get out and about and see the place but first I need to eat.  Of course I don't follow the map correctly - in my next life I want to have a sense of direction! - and I go off in the wrong direction.  I end up by the bus depot and walk into this tapas bar that has some patrons sitting outside.  I sit inside and order a seafood ceviche and a drink and then I'm on my way.

I liked how they displayed the wine in this tapas bar

It ends up I'm walking towards my goal anyways.  The old part of Ronda is where the iconic bridge is and the bull ring and everything else I might want to see.

Streets of Ronda

I first come across the bull ring and it's open for tours.  I seize the opportunity.  I come to learn that it is still very much operational since being built in 1784.  It is one of five active bull rings in the area.  I found the audio guide very informative and the museum was interesting.

Here's a tiny but interesting Wikipedia on the Ronda bullring:  Ronda bull ring Plaza de Toros

The valley surrounding Ronda

Walk to the end of this beautiful park and they have all of these overhangs so you can see the amazing views

If you look hard you can see a swimming pool w-a-y down there.

There isn't much to say about Ronda so I'll let the pictures do the talking

This is known as the "New Bridge" in Ronda.  It commenced being built in 1759.  It opened to traffic in 1793 and is still open to all types of traffic

I follow the throngs of tourists and circle the old town.  It only takes about 15 minutes to walk the entire loop.

It was difficult to take photos without tourists in them.
The tourists come for day trips from Malaga and Seville

Unwittingly, I turn up a street and it ends up being what I'd call the "main drag" of Ronda.  Full of shopping and restaurants and the street is jam-packed.  I enjoy this street and manage to find a couple of pieces of clothing to buy.

It's already dark and I haven't eaten dinner yet.  I look down a side street and there's a tiny tapas bar with people sitting outside at the 3 or 4 tables.  It's either this or nothing so I venture inside.  I tell the waitress to surprise me because I can't decipher anything on the menu.  The meat was pork and it was so flavourful and fatty.  I don't typically like fat on meat but I kept thinking of my Naturopath telling me to eat fatty cuts of meat so I did and I really enjoyed it -whatever it was.

Of course french fries.  They are served with EVERYTHING in Spain

Just a small hole-in-the-wall.
All the food and my drink cost 5.50 Euros ($8.25 Cdn)

I head back to my B&B and it ends up only being 1 1/2 blocks away from the tapas bar and about 3 blocks away from the main shopping street.  Such a small town.

In the morning I leave Angel's place by about 10:00ish.  I want to eat breakfast before I catch the train.  Hauling my suitcase, I walk to the end of the street and head in the direction of the train station.  Just a few doors down is a cafe with a bunch of old guys sitting at the outdoor tables smoking and drinking coffee.  There's no indoor seating so I have to sit outside.  I order a cafe con leche and tostada with hamon and cheese.  I also order an orange juice.  They have the best OJ in Spain and every cafe has a massive orange juicing machine.  The oranges sit atop the machine, you turn on the machine and it swallows up the entire orange.  I don't know how it separates the orange rind from the fruit but it does.

The pretty little train station in Ronda

Dried fruits and Turkish delight for sale in the train station

It's a beautiful sunny morning in Ronda.  Always breezy too which is a nice reprieve.

Just a one-track town

Next stop Tarifa, via Algeciras.  The train only goes to Algeciras and then I have to get on a bus about 30 minutes to Tarifa which is the wind capital (and kite surfing capital) of Spain and just across the sea from Africa.