2 Apr

Ronda! We got to an early start and hopped onto the highway for Ronda. The ride there was fairly pleasant and it was nice to drive through Spanish mountains. Intrepid motorcycle riders took the often steep corners at daring speeds, much to my amusement and delight. It wasn’t until the ride down that I had the sense to take some video of the guys (but hey, they were moving pretty fast). One thing that really struck me about the scenery was how old all the stones and rocks looked. I’m used to countryside and have traveled through quite a bit of it, but you’re used to wildflowers, grasses, and the occasional little village so you don’t see many ruins. The rocks on these mountains looked as though they had been laying there for ages, perhaps hundreds of years. I have no scientific evidence or proof for these guesses, but just a intuition. The sides of the mountains looked much fresher and newer in glistening whites emerging from somber grays. It was late morning by the time we reached Ronda and what a cute city this is! Our first priority was finding a place to park, and it took us some time before we finally did. We also drove perhaps a little too deep into the city too, ‘cause it took us a while to reach ‘civilization.’ We finally reached a little park where we got directions to the tourist information place. We picked up directions and then went to the bathroom before continuing. There was a bullring nearby, one of the older ones in Spain, which we didn’t walk into but looked around at. There were also some military guys there with heavy-duty guns who started playing with this dog that wandered into their group. It was cute.

Maps in hand, we searched for the most famous site in Ronda, the Puente Nuevo (new bridge). A 15-min walk brought us there and what a sight it was! Delicately spanning the river and gorge below with strong, arching struts of white stone…The ravine it hovered over was no small beauty either and we gazed at it and shot pictures of it from various angles for about 30 minutes, along with dozens of other tourists. After the bridge, we headed a little further into town in search of souvenirs and just to enjoy walking down the cobblestone streets flanked by quaint whitewashed buildings. We saw a few leather stores and in one of them I found this beautiful, Indiana Jones-esque hat that I immediately fell in love with. I’ve wanted a hat like that for the longest time, but never thought I would seriously wear it until now. I found one that fit perfectly and though the price felt a little steep, 25 Euros, I knew it was made of solid material and that I would definitely treasure it. Dad picked up a wallet and I decided to go with the hat. It smelled wonderfully of leather and I walked out with it on.

We were hungry after our little shopping trip and so we went in search of some lunch. We looked at some small places but didn’t like the look of them much and didn’t see too many vegetarian options. Finally, we made it back to the Puente Nuevo and saw this nice looking restaurant that afforded a fantastic view of the ravine. The menu was a bit pricey but quite agreeable and when we got a table outside, we knew it was perfect. We ordered two soups, one almond and garlic, another gazpacho (cold tomato soup) and one asparagus pasta dish. I thought the almond and garlic one was the best. Dad also ordered a tomato and mozzarella salad that ended up being sliced tomatoes with olive oil, garnish, and fresh mozzarella cheese. It was delicious. Mom really liked her asparagus dish and told me that the white asparagus they used was relatively rare and quite expensive. It was truly a delicacy, and I’m glad she had a chance to savor it in such a beautiful setting. We asked a nice guy near us to take some pictures of us which he obligingly did.

After lunch, we decided it was time to head back so we grabbed our things and started on a long walk back to the parking lot. On the way, we picked up some fruit and small groceries from this little store. It took us some time to finally leave the city and after we went back down the mountain, we stopped at another big grocery store that Mom had seen on the way up. Parking was another nightmare for that place and by the time Dad and I found a spot, she was almost done shopping. Once we finished there, we drove back to Marabella and got there by early evening. The sun doesn’t set until late here and places are open even later so timing wasn’t a big deal. We rested in the hotel for a little while before heading into town to find a place to eat and see some of the other famous places in Marabella, like the plaza or oranges or something. The city was not as cute as Sevilla and other places but definitely had its own charm. The park we crossed to reach the city center had some neat works of Dali in iron or bronze which I took some pictures of. Food options in the city were mostly restricted to seafood and since we obviously couldn’t partake of that, we headed back to the beach instead. After walking for a bit, we found a pizza place that looked okay so we sat outside in the rather cool air near the sidewalk so we could people watch.

While Mom was in the bathroom, the waiter/possible owner and another woman took our orders and then set our table. Dad and I were very impressed by the quick and efficient way in which they laid out the napkins, silverware, and poured out our Cokes. We half expected our food to be ready in a few minutes they were so fast. Unfortunately, they were merely mortal so we did have to wait a bit for our food, but it was really good. Dad and I had pizza while Mom got this pasta dish with a spicy sauce that was definitely spicy but had a wonderful flavor. It’s not often that pasta sauce tastes that good. We enjoyed our meal and reflected on our trip so far before making plans for the next day. After the meal, we went in search of some gelato that we would eat while strolling along the beach. We didn’t actually walk on the side, rather on these small yet wide roads that run near it (rather like boardwalks). The evening was a little cool and I was glad to get back to the hotel to warm up. We were leaving for Granada the next day so we wanted to make sure we got plenty of sleep. I’m going to miss the coast! Cheers!