A day in Ronda

For today I have arranged a tour guide/ escort to take us to Ronda, which is a beautiful mountain top town about an hour inland.  Our driver arrived about 915 am a little early..we have become accustomed to sleeping in
as much as we can..we finished breakfast on our roof terrace and headed off to Ronda.

We arrived in Ronda and parked at a beautiful hotel where we could use the facilities and where the driver knows the staff.

Then it was off to explore.

Our first stop was a church which house cloistered nuns..our guided rang the bells and spoke to the nuns through the wall..was given some instructions and then a key was passed out to us.  We went into a little room where the hand of Saint Teresa of Avila is kept..this is definitely a sight we would not have found on our own!

Then is was on to an amazing  meat and  cheese shop.  Jamon ranged from 12€ per kilo to
65€ per kilo.  We were treated to taste one that was about 55€ per kilo and it was delicious.  Unlike
anything I have ever tasted.  The pigs eat acorns which give them a very distinct flavor and natural oil.  They longer they eat acorns the better the flavor and the higher the price! The oil from the Meat and the acorns stays in your mouth long after you eat the piece of meat..delicious!

We then headed to walk along and see some amazing views...there is an old and a "new" bridge in Ronda the new bridge is 300 years old..the old section of the city is very very old and was previously inhabited by arabs.

Our views while taking a break for an afternoon cocktail..

We visited  the old bull ring, said to be one of the oldest and largest in the world.  Although there may be one  larger .  It was a great audio tour that gave a lot of insight to the
world of the bull fight.

We continued onto some amazing views of the old bridge and stopped for a drink soaking in the view.  Our next stop was an old monastery with some more breathtaking views.  I guess if you choose to live in a monastery you might as well have a beautiful view!

We wandered around some more of the town and now that our guided, Fernando, had gotten to know us a little more, we decided that we did not need to go to the upscale place with a view but rather went to a local tapas place that he frequents.  We have some tapas that we maybe would not have chosen and everything was delicious!


We had a great day with Fernando! He is quite the world traveler and we highly recommended Peru or. Costa  Rico for his next trip..he is thinking hewill probably go to Columbia..but they are also both on his list ..

We headed back to our hotel for a little siesta.

We could definitely get used to siesta time!

About 8 pm we headed out for dinner and tonight was A very light snack of some tapas and wine In the  Square of the town..and the off to bed.

Tonight's entertainment