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Published: December 31st 2008
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This morning we are leaving our lovely little home in Padul. It's sad to leave since we're just getting settled in and feeling very comfortable here. Our host Jeremy has made it feel more like we were visiting a friend's home than staying in a hotel. We had another great breakfast and then started our drive to Vejer de la Frontera. We had planned out what we thought would be the quickest route, taking the major highways most of the way. Somewhere along the way we missed a turn and ended up heading towards the town of Ronda. We had heard nice things about Ronda so we thought 'Why not, let's pass through Ronda.' After arriving in Ronda we had our first taste of Spanish city parking. Not having planned to come here we didn't really know where we were going so we kept following the signs to the city center and looking for a place to park since both of us where desperate to find a bathroom at this point. I will never complain about parking in Toronto again! Parked cars filled every conceivable space that could be construed as a parking place with some pulled up sidewalks. We drove
and drove and then we saw a hotel ahead and a parking spot just in front of it. Hallelujah! We parked in the tight little space and found the washroom at the hotel. Now we could relax once again.
We got out the guidebook and found where we were on the map and set out walking towards 'The Bridge.' We didn't know what to expect other than that there was in impressive bridge here and we thought that would make a good starting point. We wandered up and down one of the shopping streets and finally found a place for some pizza. We continued down towards where we thought the bridge should be and came across one of the most amazing vistas of the trip. The city of Ronda is build on the edge of a huge cliff with a deep gorge splitting the city into two parts. An ancient bridge who's height seems to defy believe joins the two sections. We had a wonderful time wandering around the edge of the gorge and marveling at the waterfalls down below and architecture of the bridge. If we had more time we would have loved to spend several days here.
Perhaps next time! To think that we had never planned to come here at all. Sometimes making a wrong turn does have it's merits. For now we need to continue our way to Vejer.
After leaving Ronda and driving for a while we ended up missing another turn. If we continued it looked like we would be taking the country route to Vejer rather than the highway. Well we had discovered so far today that sometimes a wrong turn leads to a good thing so we decided to continue along our way and take the back roads. Well what a wonderful route it turned out to be. We passed through beautiful rolling mountains, small White villages that dotted the countryside and endless fields of olive trees. We stopped at one lookout point to rest, enjoy the view and take some pictures. At one point as our drive continued, all of the beautiful scenery stopped and we found ourselves driving thought a barren, wind-swept landscape next to the sea. The land was covered with windmills, apparently to take advantage of the unceasing high winds in this region. This area around Tarif is known as a surfer's and parasailer's paradise. Eventually
we arrived at our little town on the hilltop overlooking the Mediterranean. The village of Vejer is perched high on the side of a hill and every house and building is painted bright white, hence the reason they are refered to as the 'White Villages.' The streets of Vejer are so narrow only one car can pass through and pedestrians have to hop into doorways to make room as you pass. Fortunately Vejer has parking lots though we had to park a fair distance from our hotel. We had requested a 'Room with a View' and were not disappointed. The little balcony of our room overlooked the sprawling white homes cascading down the hillside and there was a wonderful view of the countryside beyond.
After settling in we wandered the plaza and found the restaurant that the owner of our hotel (La Botica) had suggested. The entrance to the restaurant was located in the hotel lobby. We saw signs for the restaurant leading down and followed the signs down flight after flight of stairs through what was looking like ancient tunnels and ruins. At the bottom we arrived in a room that appeared to be a dungeon, then opened up into a Moorish Grotto. We were seated in the dining room and enjoyed a wonderful Moroccan dinner consisting of Spanish Wine, Tabbouleh, and Tagine Chicken with Potatoes and green olives. For dessert we shared Baklava. Yummy! We don't normally have coffee after our meals and received confused looks when we declined coffee. I guess it is customary to have coffee after dinner in Spain.
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