Ronda

I loved Ronda. It has to be one of my favorite places so far. We went just for a day, and that was perfect. The bus ride was as usual, full of my sleepy self and waking up when we got there. Thank goodness, because sometimes I don't sleep well the night before. 

We got there and one of the girls had to buy her return ticket, so it was nice to sit down and try to locate a map. Unfortunately, I couldn't find one that I didn't have to pay for. Oh well, we left the building and made our way across the narrow street to a café that was selling churros. Oh churros. Let me explain. 

They are fried pieces of heavenly sweet dough, typically in a round shape - sweet and round like a funnel cake, but without everything added to it. Then, not only do you receive warm fried dough for breakfast, you also get chocolate to dip it in to. If anyone told you that it was chocolate syrup - they lied to you and you should question your friendship with them. It is more like a melted chocolate bar. Once you are finished drooling on your computer keyboard, check out the picture below to see what these babies look like. 

I know. You can't resist pawing at your screen. It's even better with smells and tastes. 

Once we filled our bellies with churros and coffee, we then wondered around the street going in and out to try to find the bridge. If we were to find the big bridge, we knew that we would be semi- in the center of town.  We found it and squealed with joy upon seeing it. Then everything became quiet. The views were breathtaking. Here we stood, in a tiny town in Spain, surrounded by rolling mountains that were covered in olive trees, forest, and some farmland. I couldn't stop taking pictures. Hence the almost 400 that were posted to Facebook the other day. Here are some of my favorites, just to brag a little: 

I couldn't get that grin off my face. 

I found where I want to live. Anyone else?

La Puenta Nueva. The "New" Bridge. 

But really, it's just bigger than the old one. 

Then we decided to try to fin our way down the gorge that divided the town and take pictures from there and just explore in general. I asked a British tour guide if he knew the best way to get down to the gorge, and he handed me a map (finally a free one!) and explained how to get down and where the best pictures would be. He then told us some other places to check out. Wonderful! Cheerio, tour guide! We made our way down the gorge with ease, laughs and tons of pictures. It is a miracle that I didn't fall off of the cliff. I had my camera up and down constantly. 

Also, Europe is funny in a way that they don't have as strict safety guidelines as we do in the states. So everything had few or no railing, and the paths weren't always smooth. Good thing I wore my sneakers and comfortable clothing.

Best Example: We walked across this while holding onto the side of the cliff. We were all the way down the gorge, but still... Europe where are your handrails?! 

 No tight spots, but it did make it better to climb back up once I started glistening. (Remember: women don't sweat - we glisten) The climb down was wonderful and I even found a friendly dog that needed to be loved on. (How I miss being able to do that) After getting as close to the river as we could we decided to head back up for our lunch. 

She kept looking up for her human, he was climbing on the cliff. (With ropes) 

But she was so sweet. (and therefore got lots of attention from me)

Lovely, uphill. You see the problem is that Sevilla is flat, and well… Ronda is not. Making my way uphill took a lot more effort that I thought and I believed that I was going to perspire on the mountainside. I made it back and we found a street that had all kinds of different foods for lunch and we settled on and Italian place. I love Italian food, I really do. If I spoke Italian, this blog would be about my adventures in Italy. (maybe in the future?) I got a fettucine with Mushrooms and a mushrooms sauce. Grab a napkin so that you don't start drooling again. 

Yummy!! 

After lunch we took to exploring more parts of the town, but by then we were a little limited on time so we headed back to the bus station to return home and get a well deserved nap on the bus. However, sadly, our bus was late. Not by a lot, but like 30 minutes. I was worried that they had gone on strike and that I was doomed to sleep outside in the bus station. Fear not, it came and got me safely home. And we even snuck our friend who bought the return ticket (for the later bus, because our bus was "full" - lies) 

Overall, wonderful trip and I would recommend it to anyone visiting the Andalusia area. 

Oh, here are some more pictures.