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Visiting Ronda was one of the reasons for choosing Fuengirola as a base for these three days. Ronda is situated inland so this meant a drive up and through the range of mountains that act as a backdrop to this picture postcard coastline. The drive in itself was spectacular with views around every corner but unfortunately it was punctuated by groups of oncoming motor cyclists “practising” for the next Moto-GP. The tourists heading our way were more sedate in the way they tackled the task. Added to the mix a local cycle team chose this day and this route for a practice ride.
The drive into the town is like any other town, quite unspectacular with the usual industrial and commercial centres. Once the car was parked up for the afternoon in an underground car park away from the sun’s heat we headed for the “old town”.
To get to the old town we passed the bullring, the oldest in Spain. It was not as big as we would have imagined but big enough to hold 17,000 cheering fans watching the “sport” of bull fighting, something we haven’t been able to accept. Outside were statues of two heroes, the bull and
a famous matador. We believe the bull killed the famous matador. The edge of the town is on the edge of a cliff with a sheer drop of about 100 metres into a very productive valley below. A settlement has been here as far back as the stone age and you can understand why it was the last place to fall when the Moors were defending territory against the Christians. The tourist draw card for the town is the spectacular bridge over the gorge that links the old town with the new town. Amazing to think that is was built without today’s modern equipment. From the old town we had the opportunity to walk down some of the 365 steps to the valley floor. It was very hot, we are getting older, there was more to see, and the thought of climbing back up encouraged our choice to stop at the photo spot part way down.
Once again we are pleased we chose May to visit. It was quite hot, bus tours were aplenty, and the footpaths and streets are quite narrow. July and August must be bedlam for the town. We had one final adventure to undertake and that
was to drive the car out of the town. We chose the scenic route through very narrow cobbled streets where both wing mirrors feared for their safety. On one corner – a very sharp right hand hairpin going uphill over bumpy cobbles - we nearly ran out of gears. Passing through the fortified gateway to exit the town was achieved with sighs of relief all round.
Our day trip to Ronda was special and we would highly recommend it. On the way back to Fuengirola we stopped at several viewing places. At one stop we got talking to an elderly couple from Belgium. Like many people we have met on this trip they didn’t speak English and our French is limited but we certainly had a great time talking with them. We passed each other a few times after that and by the time we reached the bottom we felt like we were long time friends.
Meanwhile back at the apartment the fridge had done its job well. The beers were cold and greatly appreciated by the tour party. Tonight we decided on visiting the Crispy Cod, a fish and chip shop by the water front. During the meal we were informed that this shop had been awarded one of five “worldwide” top fish and chip shop awards. The other shops were in UK, Paris, New York and Hong Kong. Obviously the judges hadn’t been to New Zealand. The Icelandic cod was beautiful, shame about the batter and chips... still, it had been a great day out.
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