Wow.....Ronda

“You desperately have to go to Ronda”. Brad and Anette wrote those words in their blog more than 3 years ago when they traveled through Ronda on their European odyssey. Their pictures and enthusiasm for this blanco pueblo in the mountains south of Seville made this one of our ‘must go to’ places. We were not disappointed.

It just took a 2-1/2 hour drive from Valverde, on a beautiful fall day to arrive at this spectacular village. The village is known as being the birthplace of bullfighting, and home to El Tajo –a 330 ft gorge spanned by the dramatic 18th century Puente Nuevo bridge.

We would love to return and see more of it, but while we were there, we had an incredible lunch, poked around shops and kept gazing at the jaw dropping scenery.

Once once again stumbled upon an unexpected treasure – a market that had the air of a medieval fair.

There were stalls with spices, candy, tea and chocolate....delicacies of north African cooking....

...a tarot card reader that I saw reading a newspaper article about Obama....

...and an eco-friendly merry-go-round (the horses were made from recycled tires, and it was powered by a court jester riding a bike!).

The sights, sounds and aromas were intoxicating and a fabulous place to people watch.

As in most towns, the church is the focal point. Once the Sunday service was over, we toured through the beautiful and ornate 13th century mosque – the Iglesia de Santa Maria la Mayor.

Ronda wins top spot for me of the places we’ve gone to while in Spain --- Roger said it was a “very close second to being around boats” – which we all know is very high praise!