Saturday March 15, 2007
I started out the day not being able to be patient for the C4 bus. I waited at the stop for 20 minutes, which is really rare, and just as I was about to hail a cab to the bus station, finally a C4 bus showed up. Melissa and I got on our bus to Ronda at 10am and set out for another adventure. Have you ever heard the phrase, “don’t let the cat out of the bag?” Well there was a girl behind me on the bus who literally had a cat in her purse. Yes, it’s prohibited and yes, it’s a little awkward. Sometimes I don’t really get Spain, and that was one of those moments. After our 2.5-hour bus ride with Cat Woman we headed for a tourist info. booth in Ronda. You must be wondering, why Ronda? Well other than the fact that we just found it on a map…I must tell you why Ronda is cool. Ronda is a city that sits on an outcrop of rock in a basin surrounded by mountain ranges. There are two main parts of the city, which are broken in half by a huge gorge. Needless to say, the city is high up and has an amazing view of the surrounding mountain ranges. The coolest part about the city definitely wasn’t the places that we visited; I’d have to say that it was the landscape itself. But here’s the breakdown of the days adventures:
n Plaza de Torros (Plaza of the Bulls), Museo Taurino (Bullfighting Museum): 6 Euros
o I may or may not have been a bull and a bullfighter in this bullring, with the pictures to prove it. We went down into the inter workings of the bullring to see the pulley system and how the bullring actually works. I now know why the bulls are so mean when they come out into the ring, and it’s because they trap them into really small rooms with nothing but a thing of water. I’m sure that I’d be pissed too if someone locked me in a small room for that long. Interesting fact: there has only been one bullfighter to die in this bullring, what luck he had.
n Puente Nuevo (New Bridge)
o This bridge, which was built at the end of the 18th Century, spans the gorge between the two parts of the city. I’d rate it close to the freaking sweet end of the new tourism rating scale.
n Casa de Gigante (The Giant’s House): 1 Euro
o This house was a Nazarí Palace back in the 13th-15th Centuries and it is known for its collection of plaster-works and Nazarí coffered ceiling. Although, I’d have to say that its name is a little misleading. I imagined a “Jack and the Beanstalk-esk” looking house, yet it wasn’t even close.
n Museo del Vino (The Wine Museum): 3 Euros
o Home of the most disgusting tasting wine ever made. Decorated by a 7-year old. All around an interesting endeavor.
n Templete de los Dolores (Shrine Temple “Virgen de los Dolores”)
o Baroque chapel that we stumbled upon trying to find our way to the bus station. It had cool looking pillars…?
n Archo de Felipe V (Arch of Felip V)
o The old gateway of access to Ronda in the 18th Century.
n Puente Viejo- Puente Árabe (Old Bridge-Arab Bridge)
o More bridges because apparently its important to have those when you’re city is split in half by a gi-normous gorge.
n Jardines de Cuenca (Gardens of Cuenca)
o Gardens that have a sweet view of the Old Bridge. I conned a guy into taking our picture, but he apparently spoke English, so it was kind of humorous asking him in Spanish first. You can tell when people speak English because they look at you really funny because they can’t believe that they can understand you (yeah, it’s because I’m speaking English), they actually smile, and most of the time they laugh at the comments that you are making and not just at you.
n Fuente de los Ocho Caños (Fountain of Eight Springs)
o Named the most magnificent fountain in Ronda, and it was definitely on the lame side of the scale. This fountain would have had to shoot fireworks, blow bubbles, do cartwheels and play music to become anywhere near magnificent. The fountains creator King Felipe V and I obviously have a different point of view on what exactly is “magnificent.” Unicorns are magnificent, but this small awkward fountain, ya, not so much.
n Iglesia de Padre Jesús (Father of God Church)
n Iglesia de Espíritu Santo (Church of the Holy Ghost)
n Murallas y Puerta de Almocábar (Gate and Walls of Almocabar)
o Principle gateway and access to the city a.k.a. a huge yellow wall.
Ronda was sweet because it was smaller and you could just wonder around and find almost anything, except ice cream, in the city. On the way to the bus station we were craving some ice cream, so we ended up stopping at the convenience shop looking place to get frozen ice cream. I’m sure there are 234 different ice cream shops in Ronda, but when you are looking for them they tend to disappear on you.
Overall it was a good day and we got home around 9:45pm, and I was just in time for dinner.
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