Europe 2015
May 3 - Ronda
My day started with a late, leisurely breakfast. It was a good buffet with eggs sunny side up and real, almost crispy bacon. I left the hotel after 11:00 for a walk around Ronda.
Ronda is known as the cradle of bullfighting and the home of modern bullfighting. My first stop was at the Plaza de Toros which some say is the most beautiful in Spain. It was impressive. My tour included a visit to its museum which exhibited costumes, paintings, fighting gear, posters, etc. I was also able to walk around the bullring.
After that, I walked across the New Bridge on down to the base of the gorge. I passed several historical buildings, an Arab bath and an equestrian complex. I met Dave and Cindy Graham at the bottom and we walked together for most of the way up on the opposite side of the gorge. We saw Sandy Emerson and Jean Peters part way up where they were eating ice cream.
When I reached the top, I was hungry. I stopped at
Nueva 13 and ordered tapas mixta. For €10, I received a huge plate of mixed tapas. I could eat about 1/3 of it. It was good, but it was too filling.
After eating, I walked back over the bridge into the old town. The old town has narrow streets, whitewashed buildings with balconies with planted flowers, and spots where the view of the valley below was outstanding. I met several people from our group and walked back to the hotel with Jane Maxwell and Martha and Barry Pullen. We stopped several times to see local scenes.
Some downtime at the hotel was good until Happy Hour. After that, I walked to a tapas restaurant recommended by Rick Steves. At Cafe and Bar Faustino, I joined Steve and Alice Higgs from Kirkland. We had a nice dinner together ignoring the violence and gore form a bullfight being shown on the TV. Walking back to the hotel, we stopped at a pastry shop for desert.