Ronda: Gorge-ous!

Next on the agenda was Ronda, a town in the Malaga Province. Ronda is known for its dramatic location. The town is perched on either side of the 100 metre El Tajo river gorge.

The gorge divides the city in a stunning fashion but one that had my thoughts alternating between "Is this really safe? Is there such a thing as a town-sized handrail that could be installed here?" and "A precipice is such a pretty place to build a town. Shane and I are for sure going to live on a cliff."

Pure genius or pure insanity. View the pictures and decide for yourself.



The view you are rewarded with should you choose to live on this cliff.

We made the trek down (and I mean DOWN) la Mina. La Mina is an Islamic-era hidden stairway of over 300 steps. The steps take you down to the bottom of the gorge via a very steep, very damp, and very dark stairwell. The staircase allowed the people of Ronda to supply water in times of siege. I pity the person whose job it was to haul endless buckets of water up those stairs as I was barely capable of getting myself and my camera bag back up those stairs much less a heavy bucket of water.

Sidenote: Shane had the camera doing double-duty operating it as a makeshift flashlight in the particularly dark areas - yeah, he totally Macgyver-ed the camera.

The river as seen from the bottom of the steps.


We walked around town and saw the historic bull fighting arena - which is said to be the oldest bullring in Spain. Apparently Ernest Hemingway and Orson Welles both spent many a summer in Ronda because of their interest in this bullring, and Orson Welles' ashes were spread there.

The bullring at night.


More nighttime Ronda.

Pretty sunflowers on the way to Ronda.


Kick-Ass walnut, goatcheese & mango salad, courtesy of Ronda.


Puppies! Yet another reason to move to Ronda.