Ronda

We decided to take a slight detour to the Roman ruins at Acinipo and then continue on to Setenil. It added a few km, and it probably had more road walking than the camino route, but it was worth it. The weather was very cool, sunny, and extremely windy. Though we didn’t walk in any mountains today, they were never out of sight. Lots of Olive Groves (the first I’ve seen on this walk) and fields of bright emerald green. With the wind blowing at such high speeds, you could see waves in the fields as the grass blew around. It reminded me of the meseta on the Camino Frontis.

Acinipo once had a population of about 2,000 in the 2-3 C. All that remains are the ruins of the baths, ruins of the domus (noble house), and the theater. The setting is high on a hill, with clear views in all directions. The theater, with its circular seating carved directly out of the granite rock face, was the most imposing and interesting.

We got to Sentenil, designated as one of the prettiest Pueblos in Spain, and I think it is a worthy designation. We’re in a very cute Casa Rural with a stunning view over this town below. We have walked around a little bit, climbing up and down, and looking at the two “cave streets”, one on each side of the river. The river is now very small, but over the millennia it carved out these long promenades. It’s pretty impressive. Touristy, but not too much.

The one snafu of the day was that I woke up to find that my power bank was not charging. This is a problem, because my phone is old and only holds a charge for four hours or so. There seemed to be two options — one, to stay in Ronda till everything opened, or two, just walk as normal to Setenil and hope that the little computer/phone/technology store in town has them. No way was I going to sit in Ronda till stores opened, so on we went. I was able to speak with the owner of the store in Setenil, from the Roman ruins, and he told me he had power banks and that he would be open in the afternoon at five. I got to the store at six, and it is closed. Still waiting with fingers crossed that I will be able to get a new bank.

Update: I sat waiting on the stoop for 45 minutes with a very chatty young man who was also waiting. He kept me entertained with many stories about his children, his job, the weather, the Virgen de Los Remedios in tomorrow’s town. But I got a new power bank! It’s much heavier than my old one, but I am HAPPY to have it!もっと詳しく