Days 24,25 & 26 

The blog got away on me a  little while we were in Ronda. We were pretty busy trying to see as much and do as much as possible in this amazing place.

Remember when I said it was just a short jump from Granada to Ronda though? Well, it’s not far, but the travel connections are crappy. 

As I type this we are sitting in the Renfe train station on Antequera Santa Ana waiting two hours for a train ride to Malaga that will take 26 minutes. Oh well, it’s an opportunity to catch up on the blog. We had to take a bus from here to Ronda a couple of days ago, which we hadn’t anticipated. 

The good news is that the bus trip between here and Ronda took us through some of the most beautiful countryside we have seen yet. It’s primarily agricultural land, with grazing cattle, grain fields that are on such steep hillsides that you really have to wonder how they harvest them, the omnipresent olive trees set out in spectacular geometric patterns, and all of it punctuated by small mountains. 

The bad news was that on today’s journey the elderly lady sitting across the aisle from us as we were waiting to depart Ronda on the bus vomited all over herself. The poor lady was so distraught. We had some wipes on us, but not enough to deal with the mess she found herself in. Anyway, she had someone take her off the bus and help her out. The bus driver did a very slaphappy job of cleaning up the mess with a mop, but we most certainly have vomit embedded in the soles of our runners at this moment (sorry). To add to the misfortune of the trip as we were leaving Ronda, we passed  an accident scene involving a motorcyclist. It looked pretty bad as they had set up visual barriers.

Before we embarked on this trip, I read that Spain was the most mountainous country in Europe. I found that hard to believe, but now I understand why that is. It’s not that there are big mountains in Spain, they are just everywhere.

So Ronda… 

We arrived pretty late in the day and in the rain, so we weren’t off to a great start. We punched in the coordinates of the Airbnb and started hoofing it there. The route it gave us, while probably the most direct, did nothing to hint at how beautiful the town was. Once we arrived at our digs and got checked in, we headed out to explore. We quickly discovered the streets in the area with all of the beautiful shops and many Tapas Bars.  But that was just the very surface. We walked a bit and found ourselves standing at what we thought was a spectacular viewpoint. Again, we had no idea.

The whole reason we came to Ronda was because we ran into some Canadians at the first train station we went to in Malaga. They told us we HAD to go there. So far, I was wondering what the big deal was. It wasn’t until the next day that we found THE viewpoint, and it was literally two minutes from our door. How to describe it? Sheer cliffs several hundred feet high on either side of a gorge with a stream running through it way down at the bottom. Farmland in the near distance with sheep grazing peacefully, a patchwork of olive groves and crops, and in the distance the aforementioned mountains, but bigger ones. Hopefully the photos below will do it justice.

Once again, there were many old buildings,  Catholic churches built on the site of mosques. Remnants of ancient Moorish structures galore, but for me the most spectacular was the Puento Nuevo bridge. Literally translating to “New Bridge”. It was completed in 1793, so that’s what they call “new” around here. Spanning the gorge, and 390 feet high, this bridge is just spectacular to look at.

On our one full day in Ronda (again, wish we had more), we took in the bridge, the viewpoint, the lower bridges and ruins, and the Plaza de Toros, probably the oldest bullfighting ring in Spain. We got there early enough that we had the place almost to ourselves. We didn’t realize that in an hour or so it would be crawling with tour groups, but we took our time there learning as much as we could about this traditional site and how it factored in to the lives of Spaniards all the way back to the 1600’s. Perhaps earlier. Bullfighting is all but phased out now, as most people do not look upon it favourably, and rightly so.

Last night, Carla, Fran, Dan and I had dinner at a restaurant terrace overlooking the bridge as the sun began setting. As we were finishing up, a full moon rose. Several drones were whizzing back and forth over the gorge, their operators trying to capture that perfect moment. I would like to see that footage, but was glad when they eventually  packed it in, leaving us to enjoy a glass of port, the moon and the silence.

As I sit here on a hard train station seat typing this, I have a few things to summarize about Spain:

Spain feels very safe to travel in. Only when we were in Barcelona did we ever feel like maybe we were somewhere where we might get robbed or taken advantage of. Of course, that could just be simple ignorance and naivety. I felt much safer in Big Spanish cities than I do in even smaller Canadian ones.

Spain is not as expensive as one might think. Especially things like groceries, liquor, clothing etc. Hotels and other accommodations  options are probably on par with most places in Canada. Gas is considerably more expensive at 1.35 to 1.50 Euros per litre. That works out to about $2.15 to $2.40 CDN/ litre.

Tipping is not expected in bars, restaurants etc. If you do tip, it’s customary to just give say a few Euro on a 50 Euro bill. People are actually paid well in service industry jobs.

Public toilets are virtually non-existent. Toilets in businesses are generally broken to some degree. You almost never get paper towels in a washroom. It’s hard to get out of most washrooms without touching something someone else has touched. This place must have been fun when COVID was full-on.

Free water in restaurants is pretty much non-existent. This is puzzling because water is safe to drink pretty much everywhere. In fact, must places have drinking water freely available in public spaces.

People are pushy here. Very rarely does anyone let you go first through a doorway, or get on a bus or train before them. Having said that, people seem much more chill and patient about waiting in lines, driving, etc. 

Police and first responders must have to maintain a certain level of physical fitness in Spain, because they generally all look like they could be fitness trainers. The population, in general, seems much more fit than North Americans.

Tonight we are back in Malaga and have one full day there before a very early start to our day on June 6th. This has been an incredible trip, but I must confess, I am looking forward to being home again.

Our last full day in Granada was a full day indeed.

We hiked up to the Alhambra, a combination fortress / palace and one of the best preserved palaces of the historic Islamic world. The Alhambra is situated high atop Granada, an imposing limestone edifice whose construction began in 1238. Hundreds of years later, in 1492, after the the conclusion of the military campaigns waged by christians against the Moors, the site became the Royal Court of Ferdinand and Isabella. It gives off a real “Game of Thrones” vibe.

While we were unable to get tickets to the interior of the palace proper, we did get access to the gardens and the fortress, which is what I really wanted to see. 

The gardens are probably the most impressive we have seen yet on this trip.The sculpted hedges, towering trees, gajillions of flowers, pools, fountains, waterfalls, all were mind-blowing . The delivery of water to different parts is accomplished via a blending of 14th century and modern technology. As you are ascending stairs to new levels of the site, the handrails contain troughs which water is running through to supply lower reservoirs. Everything is  so intricate, so meticulously maintained, it’s almost overwhelming to decide where to look next. We could have spent several days just seeing the gardens, I think.

The fortress was also impressive. Climbing up to the top levels and looking out over the city below and the Sierra Madres in the distance was an unforgettable experience.  

After a couple of hours of rest, we took another walking tour in the evening. This one focused on the outer and upper levels of the ancient city, and took us up to the outer edges of the city where homes are actually carved into rock of the hillsides. We toured through ancient streets that hadn’t changed since the 14th century, all the while getting views of the Alhambra from a different perspective. Our guide gave us a lot of information on how life was for people living in these areas over the centuries, how the neighbourhoods evolved, and what it is like to live in these areas today.

By 9pm, I was about done with tours for the day and we stopped in to a tapas bar to grab a few beers. An interesting custom in this area is that tapas (snacks) are automatically included in the price of drinks. You don’t get to choose what they bring you, but it’s usually good. For example, ordering a couple of small beers at one place got us bread, sausage, almonds, and olives. Another place, it was corn chips, ham, bread, some sort of fritter, then springroll – type things that were filled with a sort of mystery cheesy filling. So long as you keep ordering drinks, the tapas keep on coming.

Eventually we ended up back home at our nice apartment where we visited and listened to music until late. The 20,000 some steps and 15 or so km we walked had me ready for bed.