Well, if I had to get stuck somewhere, I couldn't ask for a nicer spot.
As I mentioned in my last post, I kind of staggered into Ronda after dark, exhausted, and suffering from an intestinal complaint. Though a night's sleep took care of most of this, the intestinal thing persisted, and worsened rather acutely the next night, so I woke up the next morning hardly on a state for a long push over the mountains to Malaga. Now those of you who know me would know that I am far above toilet humor, and would never, on this trip, or any other, make up humorous names for such a condition like "the Moroccan Thunder crap" or "The Strains of Gibraltar." That would be childish.
But as it was, I ended up with two days in Ronda instead of the scheduled one. This turned out not really to be a bad thing at all (well, besides the reason for it).
In any event, Ronda is a small city built on a mesa that is split in two by a several hundred foot deep gorge. The two halves of the city are connected by what has to be the most spectacular bridge I have ever seen: the so called "New Bridge" (built in the late 1700's). As opposed to the much smaller "old bridge", which the Moors built in the 1300,s on top of a Roman aquaduct. Apparently, if Hemmingway can be believed, prisoners were hurled from this bridge in the Spanish civil war.
There is plenty more to see as well, such as the best bre served hammam (Turkish bath) on the Iberian Peninsula, built in the 1300's, several interesting museums (like one on the bandeleros, who were sort of like Old West desperados, except with blunderbusses and giant pocketknives instead of six-shooters, and bullfighter-looking outfits instead of dusters and Stetsons. Fascinating though how both cultures in the 19th and 20th centuries romanticized these bloodthirsty criminals in remarkably parallel fashion. I also really like the Museo Lara, which was a totally eclectic collection of a dead millionaire, and his taste and interests were the only thread holding the collection together. Fortunately, it was all stuff I thought was interesting as well from 19th century science equipment, to really weird guns, to nautical instruments, to a bizzare exhibit on the Inquisition.) Of course, the town itself is just a treat to stroll around in, with the characteristic whitewashed, red-tile-roofed houses perched up on the edge of either side of the gorge. Apparently this is also the bitrthplace of bullfighting as we know it today, and apparently both Picasso and Hemingway spent a lot of time in the impressive bullfighting ring in the middle of town. And let's not forget the wine museum, that has faucets of local wines in the walls you can try, apparently to your heart's content. This perhaps was the cruelest blow of this stomach condition yet!
The second day was even better weather than the first, and it pained me to not be able to take advantage of the opportunity to use it to get to Malaga. But, feeling better by midday, I took my unloaded bike out to the fantastic surrounding countryside, which is made up largely of vineyards and bodegas (which seems to mean "winery" here instead of "cramped New York City convenience store.") all on rolling hills right out of a Renaissance painting. My destination was yet another Roman ruin, this one called "Uncompounded", which was less impressive overall than Voibolus in Morocco, but did have an am having theater, where the seating (for several thousand) had been carved out of the bedrock, and the 60-foot-tall stage had been reconstructed. Add to this that the site was on a long sloped mesa with a commanding view of the vineyards around it and the craggy peaks of the national park beyond, and the result was spectacular. It was also nice to ride an unladen bike for a change through the ride was 20 km each way with significant elevation gained and lost both coming and going, it felt like appropriately moderate exercise to help me kick this stomach bug.
So a standing ovation for Ronda, and do be sure to put it on your itinerary if ever you go to southern Spain. I hope tonight will bring much more rest and far less thoracic turmoil and I can get an early start for my quest for Malaga.
"New" bridge ... wow!
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