Ronda

Ronda is one of Spains oldest cities, it is split in two and divided by a river gorge. You will find Ronda In the middle of the mountain range Serranía de Ronda, at the edge of a canyon of a depth of 120 meters; to get there the coach had to contend with a winding road of continuous bends. The constant swaying made me feel a bit nauseas and I was quite glad when we reached our destination. The view as we drove up the valley was well worth the discomfort. At one point we drove through some low cloud and you could feel the temperature falling. Our guide pointed out a section of the old road which was so narrow with no barrier driving up it must have been a hair raising experience. The old town, which is entered through a walled archway, retains its Moorish influences and appeales to me the most. What could be better than quiet little cobbled streets, beautiful old buildings and churches and attractive little squares to sit and reflect, all-in-all very peacful and relaxing and although there was some breeze it was still very warm in direct sunshine. The views from the bridge, "Puente Nuevo", which spans the gorge, are quite different but all are very spectacular in their own way as you will see from the photos below.

Only a small sections of the outer wall remains. This is where we entered the city.







This photo does not really reflect the beauty of the gorge.






Some of the houses are built on the rocks.













Differing landscapes looking back to the mountains and down the valley.




























This is the oldest bullring in Spain and as it has a small seating capacity, (it's not financially viable) and is therefore only used for special fiestas such as, once a year when the King of Spain visits. I am not really in favour of bullfighting so I will not go into detail except to say it takes five years to rear a bull for the ring, they are apparently lavished with good food, love and attention and it is a very costly process. Something you might not know Ernest Hemmingway and Orson Welles were keen followers of the bull fight, they spent a lot of time here and were friends of the owner of the ring who was a great matador, (by the name of Antonio Ordonez) and Orson Welles ashes were scattered at his nearby ranch.

Ronda is well worth a visit if you are planning to holiday in this region of Spain.

P.S. Beccy In answer to your query about the apes roaming freely as you can see they even like to do a bit shopping!!!