March 13, 2007

March 12 of 12

Tahj, Ahj and R-Shelly are visiting us this week, so this is going to have to be a short one. I'll try to post in more detail later...but we have visitors from now until the 17th of April, so it may be a bit before I am able to do so. This idea comes from the fabulous Chad Darnell. Go to his site and see what everyone else in the world is doing today.



8:46; Sotogrande, Spain


After dropping Señor CC off at work today, I stopped by the bank to get some cash for our road trip. Amazingly, I saw this postal truck sitting there. I had never seen one of the large trucks before; usually I see men on mopeds delivering the mail.



10:45; Sotogrande, Spain


Tahj, Ahj, R-Shelly and I were on our way to Ronda. Yes, I've told you about that here, but today was another day and we did indeed see some new things in the white town.



12:01; Gaucin, Spain


On our way, we stopped at the Hostal Breñaverde to take some pictures of the wonderful view. We all thought it quite funny that the sign (at the hostal) pointed at the building and declared that you had 0.0 meters to travel in order to reach it.



12:16; Gaucin, Spain


Gaucín is one of the many white towns that pop up on the side of the mountain on the way to Ronda. Some towns are on such a steep slope that in addition to the zig-zag streets the cars use to get around there exist pedestrian stairs/slopes that cut virtually straight up through the town for 'easier' access.



13:52; Ronda, Spain


Our entrance to Ronda was somewhat normal. By normal I mean that the usual path we are able to take in our car was (of course!) blocked off for construction and we had to park in a completely new (to me) area. Arriving wasn't all that bad, and we were able to see some new shops on our way to lunch.



14:42; Ronda, Spain


Speaking of lunch, R-Shelly and I had the Menu del Día. I chose the mixed salad, this fabulous trout (head and all) and mixed fruit for dessert. It was yummy indeed. And that trout had such beautiful eyes...



15:31; Ronda, Spain


Our first stop after lunch, in order to see some 'history', was the new bridge. For a small fee we were able to go down and inside of the structure to learn about its construction and use. The room inside was used as a prison and then as a store at one time. There are great views of the gorge from these windows.



15:42; Ronda, Spain


I cannot seem to go to Ronda without taking at least a couple of photographs of this particular view. It is simply amazing and is one of my favorite here in Spain.



16:22; Ronda, Spain


We walked down, down, down through the cobbled streets towards the old bridge. This is where we could see this Puerta de Felipe V as well as catch a glimpse of the Arab baths.



16:31; Ronda, Spain


We crossed the old bridge and then began the walk up the side of the gorge towards the Plaza de Toros. Along the way we had magnificent views of the gorge and plantlife.



16:32; Ronda, Spain


Our path also allowed us this view of the New Bridge. It is unbelievable.


16:42; Ronda, Spain


We made it over to the Plaza de Toros and visited the museum there. One of the most interesting sections of the museum was the royal saddlery. The intricate costumes and saddles were amazing.
We headed back to the car, with a short stop for helado, and then attempted to make our way home. We had a few delays: the normal exit route was blocked and the other had a lack of signs. We eventually made our way onto a road that would lead us towards home, although it was not the road we really wanted to be on.

I saw a sign at one small white town that pointed towards Estepona, a city very close to where we live. I took that road and we embarked on what has to be the most interesting and exciting road I have ever driven on. To call the turns hair-pin would be quite the understatement, and I must say that I had never before played chicken with a massive dump-truck.

I suppose there is a first time for everything...

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

WOW!!! What beautiful pictures!! It makes me want to visit!!!

CondoBlogger said...

Oh my gosh! Beautiful! Spain is suddenly on my list of places to see before I die!

What kind of Hay was on the Menu by the way? :)

Christin said...

Wow, thank you for those amazing pictures! I started learning Spanish 6 months ago. I plan on visiting Spain very soon (never been there before)!

BU said...

No fair that living in Spain automatically makes your photos 10x more interesting ;) I liked the HAY MENU too.

Lipp said...

Awesome pics! I'm coming for a visit.

Dogeared said...

What pretty pictures! And wow- how steep were those step passageways! The bridge and gorge look amazing, I'd love to see it first hand!

Helen (12 of 12er)

Zippy said...

Gorgeous photographs - what a beautiful town Ronda is!

Michele