Real Maestranza de Caballeria de Ronda

A very long name for the bullring, which was across the street from our hotel. We took an audio-guided tour of the bullring and museum, which was more interesting than we had expected. Ronda is the birthplace of modern bullfighting and this was the first purpose-built space for fighting bulls in the world, built in 1784. It can seat 5,000 spectators and is the largest ring size in Spain, although it felt a lot smaller than I had pictured. The bullring only has one fight per year, in early September for the annual fair. Neither of us would have been interested in seeing a bullfight anyway!

There was a long hike at the base of the gorge that we had considered doing but John had enough activity for the day and I had come down with a chest cold. John had a cold a few days ago with just minor sniffles. Living in close quarters it was inevitable that John would share his germs. We can escape the extreme cold at home but not the common cold virus!Read more