Days 16-17  Ronda, Spain

Not far from the Spanish Riviera in the southwest corner of the country are the white hill towns, including Ronda.  We traveled by bus instead of by car due to rumors of narrow and windy roads.  It is nice for me not to have to focus on the road, but the countryside is so pretty, I would have preferred to have a car and stop at scenic viewpoints, which were numerous.

Ronda is one of the white hill towns and is located between two of Spain’s national parks.  Among the many things it is noted for are the bridges connecting the ‘new’ part of town with the old.  The ‘new’  bridge over the magnificent gorge is about 220 years old and took almost 40 years to construct.

There is an old bridge as well.  It was rebuilt in 1616, and it still handles single lane car and truck traffic.  It is very apparent that lots of buildings and the Spanish infrastructure were built to last. 

We were fortunate to stay in a 4-star hotel (San Gabriel) in the old section of town.  One of the things Shari booked for us was a complimentary tapas experience at Casa Maria, which is a small bar where the local residents eat (versus where the tourists eat).

We didn’t really understand completely how we got this experience, but we had the best Spanish food in all the days we’ve been in Spain!  I have fallen down on my pictures of food, but here is one of the artichoke tapa that had olive oil and chopped Iberian ham plus some secret ingredients.

It was Shari’s birthday meal and one she and all of us will remember.  We treated her like a queen all day!

Ronda is the birthplace of modern bullfighting.  Their bullring was built about 300 years ago, and it is still in use.

We took a tour of the ring and discovered that bulls, and cattle in general, were wild once upon a time in Spain.  Over time, the sport evolved from indiscriminate killing of bulls by the general public to the theatre of a bullfight.  It’s an old world sport that is more respectable than we originally thought.  By the way, the color of the cape is scarlet, not red.

Ronda was definitely worth a visit.  We’d never heard of it before the trip, but we will surely remember it!