Ronda (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronda) is one of the places that has been on the list for ages. It ticks the ‘hilltop town’ box that Toby loves so much. Hilltop town does not do it justice. It sits on a sandstone outcrop with an almost sheer drop of 100 meters one side. The old town is joined to the new by the photogenic Puente Nuevo bridge. The town can be traced back to the early Celts, so that’s 600 years BCE.
The camperstop is on the edge of the ‘new’ town about 2km from the Puente Nueveo. So we get the bikes down and cycle to see the sights. We are at nearly 3000 feet and the temperature in the afternoon of the first day is 7 degrees, so for the first time we are cycling with jumpers, coats, hats and gloves. Winter even comes to Spain! We only visit the bridge and grab a tourist map and have a short walk.
The next day, we hit all the tourist sights. It’s a lot warmer than the previous day so gloves and hats are optional. For a change we actually pay to see the inside of a church, the Parroquia Santa María la Mayor. It is worth it as the church has installed large balconies on the roof and the views over Ronda are amazing. We probably spend half an hour just looking out over the city (not lookin’ out a dirty old window, nor are the cars rushing by).
We lunch in a restaurant overlooking the Puente Nueveo and to work it off we walk all the way down the valley to grab a picture of the same bridge from from below. Selina manages to acquire a new friend. Leading up to Xmas, and it’s Saturday, the town is bustling, so we sit and do some people watching and even picked up and ornament for the mothership – this is rare!
Back to the van late afternoon and planning for the next days trip further north and installing a couple of xmas decorations. Next we are off to a town that is pretty much the opposite of Ronda – it’s built under a cliff not on top of one!
