Ronda and Seville
It seems like it was weeks ago when we visited Ronda. We spent our last morning in Alvor with a hike that overlooks the beaches of the town. It was again, absolutely beautiful to see the cliffs, caves, and we also saw some major sinkholes. It was a great way to end our time in the Algarve of Portugal.
We arrived in the town of Ronda, Spain at about 5 PM and we quickly checked into our hotel, Parador de Ronda (thank you Kathryn for introducing me to the Paradors of Spain). Our rooms had balconies that overlooked the famous bridge and gorge. The views were stunning. After a quick welcome drink, we explored the area by foot and walked over the bridge and to the old town. We ended up having a fabulous dinner in a small local restaurant with small tapas, including the typical regional foods oxtail and fried goat cheese.
I copied Google history of Ronda and our Parador: The facts of the founding of Ronda are lost in the hazy mists of time. We do know it this mountain-top perch has been inhabited since the Neolithic age. There are existent wonderful Paleolithic art in the caves of Pileta near the present day village of Benaojan. There are also prehistoric dolmens in the area – most notable the Dolmen de Chopo – so we know humankind has been in the Ronda area for a very long time.
The Celts were there from around the 6th century B.C. The Phoenicians had their period as well, but the Ronda that we know today really dates from the Roman occupation during the Punic Wars. Roman influence, as was the case all over the Iberian Peninsula, was heavy here. They stayed for around 600 years, and three of Rome’s emperors were born in Spain.
Later taken by the Visigoths who held it until 713 A.D. when the Moors took over and began the rebuilding of the city. It was then named Izn-Rand Onda (“city of the castle”), and it was held in Islamic hands until 1485, when it was “re-captured” by the Marquis of Cádiz, and place back under the control of the Christian Monarchs.
Another group who has added to the colorful history of Ronda is the torreros – the bullfighters of Ronda. This is the home of “modern” bullfighting in Spain. The Pedro Romero ‘school’ developed here, and the bullring in Ronda is the oldest in Spain.
The history of the Parador Ronda building itself, once the Ayuntamiento (city hall), dates back to the year 1761. Ernest Hemingway lived and wrote here. His famous novel, “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” tells of the atrocities committed here during the Spanish civil war. Nationalist sympathizers were thrown to their deaths from the bridge and cliff right outside the Parador.
After a fabulous breakfast the next morning, we headed to Sevilla, parked our car and continued our whirlwind Spain adventures.
We made it to the Plaza de España and explored the building that included mosaics of every region capital of Spain. Photos do not give justice to this Plaza. We rented a four person bike cart and had fun driving around the parque and even had a race with a six person cart. We ended up winning, but I do have to say we had an unfair advantage since our competition had to slow down to avoid hitting pedestrians lol.
We admired the Cathedral of Sevilla as we made our way to Alcazar, but our tickets were incorrect so we could not get in so we had lunch in a square which was subpar however the gelato finish was outstanding. We checked into our apartment and Paige and I walked to the market to get a few beers to watch Stephanie‘s favorite soccer team, Liverpool, win their match. Paige and I also walked to the train station for a dry run since we had an early train to Barcelona the next morning.
We ate a delicious dinner with Spanish jamos and Valencia paella. The highlight of our evening was the flamenco dance, which ended our beautiful vacation with Stephanie and Marcel.
