Ronda 16 Sep 2007
We drove 70 miles the last 50 of which was up a mountain to Ronda. The hills that lined the Sunshine coasts provide good scenic drives. We like to drive these roads which are very accessible and just take what rural Spain and the small villages have to offer.
Ronda sits on 2 steep promontory cliffs. It is one of the oldest cities in Spain with evidence of prehistoric occupations in the caves near Ronda. Both sides of the city are connected by an arched brick bridge which has become the signature sight of Ronda. This bridge which spans a deep gorge is one of my favourite places in Spain. From both sides of the bridge one is greeted with stunning views of the surrounding countryside.
We visited the bullring, the Plaza de Toros de Ronda, the first modern bullring to be built in Spain. Ronda is regarded as the cradle of the modern sport of bullfighting that began in the 18th Century. Unfortunately, there were no bullfights that Sunday. We were treated instead to a first -class exhibition of bullfight history and memorabilia.
Travelling up the slopes of the mountain above Fuengirola we hit the sun-baked white houses of Mijas. There are small shops selling Spanish trinklets. This time around they were filled with tourists that the atmosphere was not the idyllic Spanish sun baked homes that we knew in Apr 2001.
El Torcal 22 Sep 2007
We had 3 hours to kill before we catch our flight to Rome. We decided to tour the hillsides to El Torcal about 50 km north of Málaga. The sight of the unusual rock formations that greeted us was beyond our imagination. It was like we were on the moon or some other arid planet.
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