Sunday, February 6, 2022 - Ronda

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post Ronda is a cliff side town.  You’ll see evidence of this from the pictures.  The town is also split in half from the gorge and the Guadalevin River that created it - the old town area on one side and the newer town area on the other.  There are three bridges that cross the river and gorge to unite the town, the largest is the New Bridge, which is somewhat of a misnomer, as it was built in 1751.  It is the tallest of the bridges, spanning the gorge nearly 400 ft above the canyon floor.  

My one night indulgence at The Parador Hotel sits on the edge of the cliff, one side looking over the bridge and the other side looking over the beautiful Spanish valleys and hills.  I took a walk around the town after being able to check in early at the hotel.  The town itself runs up and down the hillsides on the opposite side of the gorge.  Back home, I used to think that the walk from our house “up” into town was a climb - that’s nothing compared to these hills.  At one point, in the old area, I definitely let out a few expletives, after thinking that around the next corner it must start getting flatter, but then didn’t!

I took a short 2 minute video of the church bells ringing, but unfortunately, the file is too large to upload.  I’ll see if I can cut it down to a shorter one and upload it.  If I’m able to, it will be the last image on here - obviously of church bells!

I asked at the hotel desk if there was anything local cuisine-wise that Ronda was noted for; you’ll never guess what she said.  So, I had another serving.

Make sure your sound is turned up when you open the video of the church bells.  I cut it down to 30 seconds.  Hopefully, you can open and enjoy it.

Tomorrow I’m off to Seville/Sevilla - I’ve seen it spelled both ways.  My next four stops are longer (about 4 nights each), so I hope to “settle in” a bit more like I did in Barcelona and Madrid; get out, meet people, and spend some time with others.  The last week has been grueling.