Spectacular Ronda

Two weeks after the trip to Arcos de la Frontera, I and a 7 other girls from the group took a weekend trip to Ronda and the Sierra de la Grazalema National Park. Before arriving in Ronda, I had done a bit of research on the place, and from the pictures I'd seen, it looked like a very pretty little town. Ronda, as it turned out, is a little town, but it is not "very pretty." It is so much more than that; gorgeous, astounding, and dazzling come to mind. The town is a quintessential Spanish town, old white houses with yellow trim and red tiled roofs, cathedrals, plazas and fountains. All this situated on top of the real reason to visit Ronda. The town is split into two sections by a massive canyon, connected by the "New Bridge," which is all of 250 years new, as it was built in the 1750s. The bridge is undoubtedly the main attraction in Ronda, spanning the canyon both horizontally and vertically. From the city, you look out and see the bridge, and the ongoing mountainous landscape beyond it.

We spent the first day walking about the city, and hiking down into the canyon, trying to take photos that  would do justice to what we saw. When it began to get dark, we headed back to our hostel's common room to enjoy some Spanish wines, cheese, bread and cured meat. And after a bit of red wine, some girl talk and a lot of laughter, we went out to sample the tapas at a nearby restaurant which sold tasty tapitas (little tapas) for less than one euro apiece! All in all, a good day.

Here is the bridge, looking up from below.

The next day, some of us hopped into the rental car and took a trip into the Sierra de la Grazalema Park to do some hiking in the mountains. It was bitterly cold, but well worth it. It was a sunny, windy day, and the trail led us up and down hills covered in low scrub-brush, the occasional tree, the occasional cow, and white rocks poking up out of the ground all around. The hike led us directly through a goat farmer's pasture where we saw goats of all ages, completely unperturbed by the stream of tourists trickling through their home. And when I say goats of all ages, I don't just mean some kid goats and some adult goats. Had we been there a few hours earlier, we would have been just in time to witness the birth of two baby goats. As it was, when we got there, they were both struggling to stand up, and were still a little gooey looking. We found a couple more young goats, older than the newborns, but still soft, cute babies who didn't seem to mind a bit of attention. So, we got to pet baby goats while hiking in the Spanish mountains.

After the hike we headed home to Cádiz, listening to a mix CD of cheesy Spanish music from the 90s, and feeling quite pleased with our weekend's adventure.