Ronda (Rown-dah)

Day trip #2 was to Ronda.  A very mountainous city in the province of Malaga.  Ronda is home to the oldest bullfighting ring in Spain and the famous "Puente Nuevo", which spans a gorge over 300 feet deep. Puente Nuevo means "New Bridge" yet it was built in 1793!  Which gives you an idea of how unchanged Ronda has been over the years.

The countryside of Ronda

 Ronda is known as the modern birthplace of bullfighting, even though the ring is only used once a year.  Bullfighting has come to be a very controversial sport in Spain and not everyone agrees with it.  Although when most people think of Spain they think of 1. Bullfighting 2. Flameno 3. Maybe Paellla.... but no, I figured out a long time ago that these "images of Spain" do not come close to reflecting the various regions of the country.

Kate, Tara, and I didn't have much interest in going to the bullfighting museum so we headed straight for the bridge.  It was hard to get a good picture of it at first because it's so tall, so we walked around a bit to get a good view.

The gorge is called El Tajo and it carries the Guadalevín River through its center

 

Ronda is known to be one of Andalucia's loveliest towns

 

Miss Kate and I

 

 

Miss Tara and I

I love this picture.  The countryside is very peaceful and the fleur de lis gate reminds me of New Orleans

The bridge and the countryside were pretty much all there was to see in Ronda, which made for a relaxing trip.   We had ourselves a nice lunch and some drinks in the sun before heading back to Malaga for the night.