Travel Day - Seville to Ronda

We had a 9:30 a.m. bus to catch so I felt it would be wise to take a taxi to the station to avoid the morning rush hour crowds, and John didn’t argue with me. Surprisingly, the streets were quiet and I noticed that the buses were empty. I concluded that the Spanish aren’t morning people because they eat and drink late into the evening on any day of the week. Also, sunrise isn’t until 8:40 so it is always tough to get out of bed when it is still dark outside. Our 130 km bus ride was uneventful except before leaving the bus station John decided to go to the bathroom and got back a minute before departure time! Passengers are responsible for loading and unloading your own luggage so I had a real struggle with his 50 pound suitcase.

The scenery along the two lane narrow highway was pretty with green, rolling hills. We passed several spandex-clad cyclists so this must be a popular route for biking road trips. On arrival in Ronda our hotel was a 20 minute walk. The Catalonia Ronda was a splurge at $120 but we were assigned a two room suite with a view of the hills and bull ring. It has been our nicest hotel so far.

Ronda has a population of 34,000 and is one of the largest white hill towns, where most of the buildings are whitewashed. Although the town appears to be flat, we walked across the street to an area called the New Bridge and discovered that the town is actually clinging to the walls of a canyon. It was such an amazing sight to see. The sun was shining; it was 23 degrees; and there were two buskers, one playing the harp and the other a guitar and pan flute. What a way to make a good first impression!Read more