Spring Break in Spain–Day 2:Ronda
After our late night Easter procession in Malaga we definitely needed to sleep in. Finally by noon we were ready and out the door for our day’s adventure… Ronda… “one of the largest white hill towns and also one of the most spectacular, thanks to its gorge straddling setting.” It was an hour drive and we were shocked at the elevation we drove within the hour. The picture above is where we stopped for a minute to check out the view and see the ocean – half way to Ronda.
We lucked out and found two parking spaces open along the road in Ronda so we were able to park the beast. Then we made our way to our first stop…
Plaza de Toros de Ronda - The Bullring
Short history… “Ronda is the birthplace of modern bullfighting and this was the FIRST GREAT SPANISH BULLRING. Philip II initiated bullfighting as war training for knights in the 16th century.”
Longer history… “There were two kinds of bullfighting: the type with noble knights on horseback, and the coarser, man-versus-beast entertainment for the commoners. Ronda practically worships Francisco Romero, who melded the noble and chaotic kinds of bullfighting with rules to establish modern bullfighting right here in the early 1700’s. He introduced the scarlet cape ( -- which I learned at the museum was chosen to hide the blood that would splatter all over it. Yuck. Bulls are actually colorblind.) His son Juan further developed the ritual and his grandson Pedro was one of the first great matadors, killing nearly 6,000 bulls in his career.” Rick Steves SPAIN
Before actually entering the actual ring we went through the museum and enjoyed learning a little about matadors and their outfits, how and why they cut a bull before they start and a few other gory details.
It was really fun to spend some time in the ring. We ended up getting pretty muddy but we just couldn’t resist pretending to be bulls and matadors and running around in the ring. At one point Chris had the GOPRO strapped to Emily’s head and had her charging at Matador Ryan with his red sweatshirt. Then we all charged the video camera a couple times. It was great fun.
Aren’t these little buddies so cute? Little friend Cole is exactly between Luke and Matthew. It’s just perfect. Love this picture of them.
Johnsons at the Bullring.
Stairs with special matador tiling to the second level of seats…
Matthew had no idea why we were running all over this mud packed ring but he LOVED it.
Below… the bullpen. “There are six bulls per fight (and three matadors). Nine bulls were penned up here, and ropes and pulleys safely opened the the right door at the right time. Ronda hosts bullfights each year in September. Tickets go on sale 14 months in advance and sell out immediately.”
After the bullring we ordered meat and cheese sandwiches and headed in the direction of Ronda’s other big attraction… the bridge and gorge.
Behind Chris and Emily, the whitewashed old Moorish town (La Ciudad) – the original section of Ronda. The area where we are sitting is the new town (El Mercadillo) built after the Christian reconquest in 1485. The New Bridge mightily spans the gorge joining these two parts of town… built from 1751 to 1793.
We ate our sandwiches in the Plaza de Espana while looking over the edge of The New bridge.
We walked across the bridge taking pictures at every angle. It was so much fun. We wandered into the old Moorish side of town and down some side streets until we found the pathway down into the gorge.
The Johnson Family…
The Chugg Family…
We walked through the streets, went through an archway, found the ‘old bridge’ – the means of connecting the two sides before the ‘new bridge’ was constructed, climbed trees, ate fruit from a corner store and then bought some gelato which was fine but not great. Lesson learned – save the gelato purchases for Italy and buy Magnum bars in Spain.
I’m just fascinated by the cobblestone in different cities…
