cwm ronda (misty mountain tops)
Bryn and I chose not to run today, so we stayed at home and made ourselves some breakfast whilst mum and dad ventured off up into Mijas - see Lloyd's section for more info. They came back, and it looked like mum had attacked by a wild bear. In fact, she'd fallen over, a less dramatic story but very painful still.
Once we'd all got ourselves sorted, dressed, fed etc, we started the long drive to Ronda town in the tall mountain range of Sierra Nieva. The weather wasn't as pleasant as it has been since we arrived, but it wasn't raining, which was good. It was just a little cloudy, warm though.
It took around 1hour 30mins to get to Ronda, and when we got there, a perfect parkrng space was waiting for us. It wasn't underground, surrounded by other cars, or a long way from the town centre, so we were very happy.
Ronda was a beautiful place. It had lots of little shops and restaurants. I bought myself a Spanish fan with flowers on it - I have a collection of fans so I'm glad to be adding to that collection. The gorge was ginormous, and very deep too. It was shocking and stunning. We also saw the outside of a colosseum where bull fighting used to occur, and according to the Lonely Planet book Ronda was one of the first places in all of Spain to hold Bull fighting as an entertainment sport.
Dad had noticed a little restaurant in one of the streets selling a deal for tapas and a drink for reasonable money, so we headed there for some food. We had to wait for around 10 minutes as the place was quite small and all the seats were taken, which wasn't really a problem.
Eventually we were seated, but no one came to serve us. We were sat for a while, and in the end decided that the service wasn't great at this place, so we headed off in search for another place that sold tapas.
The next place we chose had much better service, which we were grateful for. We got to sit in an outdoor area next to a small park. It was pretty, and nice to be sat outside too. Tapas wasn't what I expected. It was an array of Spanish foods and I really liked it. It felt great to try something new, and something Spanish!
The journey home wasn't too long, and the clouds came down over the mountains which was so interesting to see. It looked almost like smoke rising above a volcano. On the way back to the house, we went to a (you guessed it) supermarket! Aldi, of course. We picked up some milk, yea and coffee, food for breakfasts and today's tea and a few other bits and bobs.
Back at the house Bryn said he wanted to go in the pool, so I had a spontaneous spur to jump right in too. I thought it would take me a while to pluck up the courage to get in as it was so cold, but I sort of took the plunge just to get it over with! I wasn't in there long, and got out soon after to get straight into the hot shower. I had a tasty, yet not so summery tea - tomato soup with bread and crackers. We're having an early start tomorrow so I ought to get some sleep.
(Lloyd)
Decided to keep our run local this morning, and headed up, and up, and up .. 2 miles incline got us to Mijas which has been an alluring presence on the hills above us. Only Chrissi and I today, stuck together on the way up, but I wanted to let fly on the way down, although so steep couldn't completely let go. As appeared to be sensible as Chrissi rocked down a few minutes behind me covered in blood.
Hills the order of the day
After stuffing down a bit of bread and cheese for breakfast we got in the car, and decided Ronda was the destination of choice. Our sat nav is keen we avoid trouble and pay the government and took us via a few toll roads, we managed to avoid them on the way back.
Was a very exciting drive up through the sierra de las nieves, plenty of cut backs, and sharp pulls. Not as sharp as what we had run this morning, but the climb was a damn sight longer. Up through the clouds and into the Lost World. Apparently eagles and lynx inhabit this desolate domain, very Lord of the Rings on the misty mountain tops. Still managed to receive some rubbish radio, although the song below took me back to Clowns in Southampton in the 90s, wonder who will remember what/who I am recalling? Memories recur at the most peculiar of songs. Shaggy?
So we reached the outskirts of Ronda, saw everyone park on the road, and pulled in behind them. This allowed us to stroll up to the old town, and meander through a few of the streets and squares. This town sits across a massive gorge, and clearly has had some significant defensive properties over the years. It is so remote, and yet so lively, both with tourists and also residents getting on with their daily lives.
Lots of little shops and museums to briefly catch the attention, but all roads (or the main road) led to the massive bridge that spans the gorge and has clearly existed for a good few years. A look over the edge not for the faint hearted, down and down it goes. We spent some time thrill seeking on both sides of the bridge and taking a walk around the edge of the gorge/city walls to get lots of great photos.
This took us into the new town where the centre piece was the bull ring. Apparently there is some indication that bull fighting started here in the 1500s with some local aristocracy getting stuck in, and is now an established part of the culture in these parts, with lots of famous matadors emerging and fighting in these parts. Stood outside I guess the equivalent of the Liberty Stadium, only holds 5000, so perhaps the equivalent of Rodney Parade. Will call our car El Torro today as managed to show a bit of power and resilience after recent days.
We called the sightseeing a day and looked to find a bit of cheap fodder. A weird experience in a restaurant where they seated us and then proceeded to ignore us for about 15 minutes until we walked out. It had even said on the door they welcomed Germans which usually gives us a free pass.
Anyway rounded the corner, found a lovely table in one of the open squares and devoured a bit of tapas, before taking a long and winding road back down the mountain. Again some great sweeping scenery and views, stopped at a couple of lookout points to take it all in.
Final part of the day involved the inevitable stocking up of simple food in Aldi, and a couple of beers in our poolside abode. Always one to rekindle the backpacker edge on these trips I concocted a bit of a super noodle special with a packet and the remains of yesterdays BBQ Hardly high dining but that's not what I particularly associate with this kind of trip and the local beer and outdoor eating makes everything taste a bit better.
Once we'd all got ourselves sorted, dressed, fed etc, we started the long drive to Ronda town in the tall mountain range of Sierra Nieva. The weather wasn't as pleasant as it has been since we arrived, but it wasn't raining, which was good. It was just a little cloudy, warm though.
It took around 1hour 30mins to get to Ronda, and when we got there, a perfect parkrng space was waiting for us. It wasn't underground, surrounded by other cars, or a long way from the town centre, so we were very happy.
Ronda was a beautiful place. It had lots of little shops and restaurants. I bought myself a Spanish fan with flowers on it - I have a collection of fans so I'm glad to be adding to that collection. The gorge was ginormous, and very deep too. It was shocking and stunning. We also saw the outside of a colosseum where bull fighting used to occur, and according to the Lonely Planet book Ronda was one of the first places in all of Spain to hold Bull fighting as an entertainment sport.
Dad had noticed a little restaurant in one of the streets selling a deal for tapas and a drink for reasonable money, so we headed there for some food. We had to wait for around 10 minutes as the place was quite small and all the seats were taken, which wasn't really a problem.
Eventually we were seated, but no one came to serve us. We were sat for a while, and in the end decided that the service wasn't great at this place, so we headed off in search for another place that sold tapas.
The next place we chose had much better service, which we were grateful for. We got to sit in an outdoor area next to a small park. It was pretty, and nice to be sat outside too. Tapas wasn't what I expected. It was an array of Spanish foods and I really liked it. It felt great to try something new, and something Spanish!
The journey home wasn't too long, and the clouds came down over the mountains which was so interesting to see. It looked almost like smoke rising above a volcano. On the way back to the house, we went to a (you guessed it) supermarket! Aldi, of course. We picked up some milk, yea and coffee, food for breakfasts and today's tea and a few other bits and bobs.
Back at the house Bryn said he wanted to go in the pool, so I had a spontaneous spur to jump right in too. I thought it would take me a while to pluck up the courage to get in as it was so cold, but I sort of took the plunge just to get it over with! I wasn't in there long, and got out soon after to get straight into the hot shower. I had a tasty, yet not so summery tea - tomato soup with bread and crackers. We're having an early start tomorrow so I ought to get some sleep.
(Lloyd)
Decided to keep our run local this morning, and headed up, and up, and up .. 2 miles incline got us to Mijas which has been an alluring presence on the hills above us. Only Chrissi and I today, stuck together on the way up, but I wanted to let fly on the way down, although so steep couldn't completely let go. As appeared to be sensible as Chrissi rocked down a few minutes behind me covered in blood.
Hills the order of the day
After stuffing down a bit of bread and cheese for breakfast we got in the car, and decided Ronda was the destination of choice. Our sat nav is keen we avoid trouble and pay the government and took us via a few toll roads, we managed to avoid them on the way back.
Was a very exciting drive up through the sierra de las nieves, plenty of cut backs, and sharp pulls. Not as sharp as what we had run this morning, but the climb was a damn sight longer. Up through the clouds and into the Lost World. Apparently eagles and lynx inhabit this desolate domain, very Lord of the Rings on the misty mountain tops. Still managed to receive some rubbish radio, although the song below took me back to Clowns in Southampton in the 90s, wonder who will remember what/who I am recalling? Memories recur at the most peculiar of songs. Shaggy?
So we reached the outskirts of Ronda, saw everyone park on the road, and pulled in behind them. This allowed us to stroll up to the old town, and meander through a few of the streets and squares. This town sits across a massive gorge, and clearly has had some significant defensive properties over the years. It is so remote, and yet so lively, both with tourists and also residents getting on with their daily lives.
Lots of little shops and museums to briefly catch the attention, but all roads (or the main road) led to the massive bridge that spans the gorge and has clearly existed for a good few years. A look over the edge not for the faint hearted, down and down it goes. We spent some time thrill seeking on both sides of the bridge and taking a walk around the edge of the gorge/city walls to get lots of great photos.
This took us into the new town where the centre piece was the bull ring. Apparently there is some indication that bull fighting started here in the 1500s with some local aristocracy getting stuck in, and is now an established part of the culture in these parts, with lots of famous matadors emerging and fighting in these parts. Stood outside I guess the equivalent of the Liberty Stadium, only holds 5000, so perhaps the equivalent of Rodney Parade. Will call our car El Torro today as managed to show a bit of power and resilience after recent days.
We called the sightseeing a day and looked to find a bit of cheap fodder. A weird experience in a restaurant where they seated us and then proceeded to ignore us for about 15 minutes until we walked out. It had even said on the door they welcomed Germans which usually gives us a free pass.
Anyway rounded the corner, found a lovely table in one of the open squares and devoured a bit of tapas, before taking a long and winding road back down the mountain. Again some great sweeping scenery and views, stopped at a couple of lookout points to take it all in.
Final part of the day involved the inevitable stocking up of simple food in Aldi, and a couple of beers in our poolside abode. Always one to rekindle the backpacker edge on these trips I concocted a bit of a super noodle special with a packet and the remains of yesterdays BBQ Hardly high dining but that's not what I particularly associate with this kind of trip and the local beer and outdoor eating makes everything taste a bit better.
Wow, Chrissy's leg looks bad. I'm impressed she managed the day with the rest of you.
ReplyDeleteTapas are really wonderful aren't they Carys. It is why I go back to Spain as often as I can, every bar seems to have a different variety, so the exploration is great fun.