Day Trip: Ronda, Spain

While researching where we wanted to go when we first started thinking about a trip to Spain we stumbled across photos of Ronda and immediately knew we wanted to work it into our itinerary somehow. As it turns out, Ronda is a 1.5-2 hour bus ride from Seville, so we were able to make it happen pretty easily.

 

As the bus entered Ronda and made its way to the bus station we kind of started questioning why exactly we wanted to go to Ronda. It wasn't quite the charming old town on the cliffs we had pictured. Then we walked a few blocks and saw this:

Church built in 1585.

And a few more blocks and we saw this:

And then we remembered. :)

Despite the amazing views, though, lunch became our first priority. After some quick iPhone research we ended up in a little plaza with plans to eat at a certain restaurant. Of course it was closed. So we chose another place across the plaza. Let's just say it was very authentic, we had no idea what we were ordering, and we chose poorly. At least Parker was a fan of the fountains and running up and down the ramps in front of the church.

 

After lunch we headed back towards the cliffs. There was a trail that started in one of the parks and wound around, over a bridge, and into the old part of the town. It was so breathtaking. Absolutely freezing and windy, but breathtaking. :)

The start of the trail. Ronda is the birthplace of modern Spanish bullfighting thanks to the Romero family.

Before we could follow the trail, P had to dance.

Notice that walkway that juts out over the cliffs.

Family selfie :)

Puente Nuevo



We had a snack on the patio of the restaurant to the lower right (and I had a confrontation with a very angry Spanish waiter who I think was accusing me of attempting to steal an orange. Still not sure what exactly happened there. Another waiter was a lot nicer and noticed P's love of oranges and gave us one when we were leaving.)

When we got back to Seville we set out for another late night dinner. It was probably in the upper 50s, which felt pretty nice to us, so we opted to sit outside. The waitress asked if we wanted a heater and seemed surprised when we declined. We noticed several times during our trip that although we thought temperatures were decently pleasant, the locals were always bundled up (I'm talking babies in snow suits) and sitting under heaters if outside. Anyway, at El Pasaje we ordered a ridiculous number of tapas including the best pork, mini hamburgers, and foie gras. And yes, P played on the iPad, but he also watched the trucks and bicycles and dogs that passed by and he pushed his stroller all the way back to the hotel.