Ronda

I was doing a day trip to the town of Ronda today, I didn't know much about it, but it had been recommended by Erin. I figured it would be cool to see a more rural town in Spain as opposed to the bigger cities, so I obliged. It is a 2 hour bus trip from Malaga, and there wasn't much in terms of scenery on the drive - just endless ____. When I arrived, it was incredibly hot in the town, and I didn't have much of a plan. I was here for 6 hours total, and it's a pretty small place, so I figured I could just wander. That being said, I started walking and ended up on the other side of town, where there is literally nothing. So I had to backtrack and head along the main walkway with plenty of shops and restaurants. This was nice as I looked for some Christmas gifts and some lunch. I stopped for a fajita that was very good before continuing my journey site seeing. Although Ronda was cool, it was slightly disappointing just because there wasn't much to do. The old cathedral and palace were the next most notable things, and they didn't take particularly long to get through, although they were quite cool. However, the most notable of the things to do in Ronda was the bridge. It was quite cool and impressive to see, but I think my overall visit was somewhat impeded by my lack of background or understanding of the town of Ronda. Perhaps a tour would have made this more engaging. I am sure it is littered with history, but just walking around, you never really got a sense of it all. Nevertheless the architecture was quite cool and well preserved, and the views from utop the town were also very impressive but other than that I never really got an idea of why the town is there and why it is such a popular tourist destination - a part from the bridge. The canyon that splits the town and justifies the construction of the bridge is quite impressive and cool to be able to look through. There were multiple opportunities to view into it, and it only added to the surreal effect of it and emphasised the size and grandure of the valley. At the end of the day when it was cooler (although only barely), I planned to walk down to the bottom of the ___ on which the town is situated, to get a bottom-up view of the bridge. But for whatever reason, the regular path to get to the viewing platform was closed, and I would have to walk 30 minutes around to see the bridge from the bottom. Given that I would then have to walk 30mins back up steep hill and another 15mins to the bus stop, in which I would be getting pushed for time, I figured I didn't need to do it. I got a good enough look and didn't need to risk missing my bus, which was the last bus of the day. As such, I headed to the bus stop after some more wandering and began the journey home. Tomorrow, I will be travelling to Seville from Malaga, but I still have to see the Alcazar and the Gibralfaro Castle (Castillo de Gibralfaro) in the morning before my bus trip. I got an early night to ensure I had enough time to see these main attractions of Malaga.Read more