Ronda

Ronda has been on my list of places to visit in Spain since before I even started my trip. Last weekend, I finally made it out to the little town. It was quite the ordeal. Several of my friends and I had been wanting to go and we had a free weekend, so we decided to leave on Friday morning and come back on Saturday afternoon. Having learned from past experiences, we wanted to make sure that we booked our Airbnb and bus tickets at the same time to make sure that we transportation and lodging. Our plan appeared to be going smoothly and our Airbnb reservation processed, but suddenly, our payment for bus tickets was denied. We tried again, and the same thing happened. After trying several more times, we tried a new card, but it was also denied. After two hours of trying to figure out how to buy bus tickets to Ronda, we gave up and tried to cancel the Airbnb reservation, but we got a message saying that it was nonrefundable because we used a promotional offer. Now we were stuck! We had to pay for lodging in Ronda, and we were determined to find a way to get there. I have never missed my car so much! We tried finding bus tickets online, but we could not find anything that worked. Finally, we walked down to the bus station after class and bought bus tickets at the station. Problem solved!

Our bus left Sevilla the next morning at 7:00 am. Spain is not a morning culture, so the bus was almost empty. Besides the six of us traveling together, there was only several other people on the bus. The bus ride was a little over two hours long due to stops in all the little towns on the way. The little highway wound through the mountains and the views were amazing. The landscape consisted of tree-covered mountains dotted with whitish gray boulders. At one point, I saw a large bluish green lake. There were a few flocks of sheep grazing in the fields. Several small towns sat perched on hilltops. They are called the pueblos blancos because they are built totally of white buildings.

We arrived in Ronda at 10:00 am and walked to our Airbnb from the bus station. It was only a five minute walk. We were able to rent an entire apartment, with four bedrooms, a bathroom, a dining room, a living room with a TV, and a full kitchen. And it was very affordable! From our window, I could look out over the narrow street full of balconies with potted plants. It was a dream vacation spot.

After we got settled, we walked down to the super market and bought groceries. We decided to eat in while we were in Ronda to save money and also because we do not have many opportunities to sit down and eat together and a few of the girls love to cook and were really missing it. For lunch, we made noodles with alfredo sauce and french bread. Our dinner consisted of bell peppers stuffed with taco meat, cheese, salsa, and guacamole, as well as tortilla chips. Breakfast was scrambled eggs. After putting all our groceries away, we ate lunch, and then headed out to explore the city.

Our first stop was this little park full of trees with purple blossoms. The park backed up to a walkway and railings along a cliff edge. It should be noted that Ronda is built on a hill. One side of the hill slopes down gradually, but the other side is sheer cliff. A river runs through the middle of the city at the bottom of a steep gorge. Amazingly, the city is built right up to the edge of the cliffs, with an ancient, famous bridge spanning the distance. From the park, we walked to the edge of the cliff and admired the view. We also took lots of pictures. I do not know if Ronda is just not as popular a tourist destination as the other places I have been to or if it was just a slow day, because Ronda was empty and it was so relaxing to not have to deal with crowds.

We made our way along the cliff until we reached the bull ring. It is the oldest bullfighting ring in Spain because Ronda is the city that bullfighting originates from. It was not as big and prestigious as the bull ring in Madrid. It was small and white, matching with the rest of the town. Wisteria vines were growing all along the white walls and were full of purple blooms. The city was also full of other blooming flowers, including Peonies. We saw the iconic Ronda view of the gorge with the city on both sides and the bridge, and then we walked across the bridge. We were looking for a place to go down to the river, but it was all blocked off by construction signs and barbed wire. Instead, we went and toured the cathedral and walked along the narrow streets. The view from the top of the cathedral was stunning and I could not get over the beauty of the trees and the mountains and the little houses. It was breathtaking!

Following our tour of the cathedral, we found a narrow little trail along the base of the wall surrounding the city. We thought it would take us to the river and through the gorge, but it did not. It did take us on an adventure around the edge of the city and to a beautiful little bridge. A shepherd walked by with a flock of sheep. It was very picturesque. Although we never found a way down to the river, we had an amazing afternoon exploring the city. Walking around the city took the energy out of us and we had been up since 5:30 that morning to catch our bus, so we were pretty tired. We sat down at a little cafeteria (coffee shop) and had a pastry and took a load off. When we had finished, we headed back to our Airbnb and relaxed for a while.

When we were ready for dinner, we cooked our bell pepper and taco creations and then watched romantic comedies and straightened each others' hair. Because we all live in home stays and there is a policy that you cannot have friends over, this was our first sleep over and movie night. It was so much fun!

The next morning, we slept in, made breakfast, and then packed up our stuff. We headed out to the cliff edge one last time to admire the view and take a few more pictures. Then, we cooked a couple of pre-made pizzas and headed off to the bus station. Our bus ride back was much shorter because we did not have any stops. However, it was pretty windy and I was one of the only ones who was not feeling carsick. I felt very lucky and I thought that the drive was beautiful. Ronda is definitely my favorite pueblo in Spain so far...

I have attached a few pictures of the bridge spanning the gorge, the bull ring, wisteria blooming on a white wall, and the view from the cliffs, among others.