Mom and I woke up bright and early this morning (7:30 ughhh) to walk to the train station to go to Ronda. On the way we made a pit stop at our future Malaga hotel to inquire about early airport taxis (will need in the future) and at the metro cuz I wanted to ride the local train. Dang it’s nice. Super not-worth-it for the one stop we went, but I was very happy to see it.
We get to the train station and barely figure out the ticket situation- the direct train had construction and had become a 3h bus, we chose to instead by two separate train tickets to connect for a 2h total trip. We hop on the train, find our seats, and a minute or two later the train leaves. Phew! We arrive at the connecting station, Antequra Santa Ana, for a 30min layover. We were hoping that we could walk around the town for a bit at this stop, but it was absolutely in the middle of nowhere, only surrounded by fenced-off orange tree farms. Luckily the connection went quickly and we were on our hour train to Ronda. We both fell asleep but I somehow woke up right in time to get off.
We walked from the train station to the hotel (which was poorly marked) and drop our bags since we were a bit early for check in. To kill some time, we explored the town, heading first to the massive gorge that splits the town in two, joined only by a tiny yet impressively high bridge. We admire the bridge for a bit, then decide to grab some lunch (tapas of course) in the town square which happened to be directly behind our apartment. We got an artichoke bread thing (insanely yummy), Iberian ham sandwich, pork cheek, and red wine of course. It was VERY yummy.
We made it back to the hotel to take our stuff to our rooms. From there we ventured out into the city again, this time passing by a guitar shop to buy tickets for a show tonight. We passed the gorge bridge and walked along the other side of town. There was a path to go down and admire the bridge from below, but it was under construction and would’ve been a hike anyways. Trying to sway mom into not taking the even longer alternative path, we stopped at the main square on that side of the gorge and walked around a church there. It was SO interesting. Construction on the church began during the Gothic era of architecture, with plans for a cross-shaped building typical of many cathedrals in Europe and across the world. However, they ran out of money halfway through and paused construction halfway through just before the arms of the cross were constructed. By the time they finally gathered enough money, styles and changed and the rest of the structure was built in the Renaissance style.
Very interesting to be in a church with both styles so distinct. I guess I’m also a nerd about this stuff. Not only were the contrasting eras so cool and unique, but the church was restored to have a walk-around deck on the roof, plus a small balcony on the inside roof of the church. I don’t think I’ve ever been at the top of a cathedral before, neither inside nor outside, and I felt a bit like Quasimodo at Notre Dame. Really really cool. Definitely worth the 2eur student ticket ;)
Mom was still set on making the hike, so we continued on the long way. It was a bit of a ways down on very rocky cobblestone road (if you could call it that), and the sun was hot. I will never complain about needing to take off my winter coat, but I sure was glad I had a sleeveless top on underneath. The views were great, and it was nice to get fresh air, exercise, and sun. The hike up was marvelous, taking all the fun and steepness and sun from the way down and going in reverse. Yay. It wasn’t that bad in the end, although I did break a sweat. Still, not complaining for January 3rd.
We tried to check out the wine museum, but it was closed (as are many things this time of year), so we instead stopped by a bakery to grab a cannoli-type thing and a water bottle to recover from our intensive walk. We (I) enjoyed these very much in the sun on the gorge bridge. Can’t get enough sun!! It’s so nice to not feel cold.
Originally not high on our list, we checked out the bull ring. Turns out it was very impressive- One of the first and largest in world history, and incredibly well kept.
In fact, not only do they still hold bull fights, but they host a highly ranked equestrian school. All of the grounds and facilities were remarkably clean for such an old and utilized space. We got to see where the bulls hung out before fights, as well as walk the ring ourselves. It was very neat. Apparently only one fighter has ever died in the history of the arena, and he was buried exactly where he died in the ring. This was a very cool sight.
We ended up spending much more time at the bull ring than expected, so we searched for a place for a quick dinner. Of course, not many dinner places are open at 6pm in Spain, but luckily we managed to find one with an open table. We got an Iberian ham sandwich and a chocolate croissant. We ended up having a bit of extra time, so we went back to the hotel to freshen up a bit before the guitar concert. We were still the first ones at the concert, very un-Spanish-like of us, but we wanted to make sure we got our wine!
The concert was incredible- this guy could play like none other.
He played on a few different guitars showcasing different varieties of Spanish music. It was really a treat. Mom and I finished off the night (because going to bed at 8pm would’ve been lame) at a wine bar nearby. We enjoyed some nice local wine with some duck pâté, olive pâté, and mushrooms. It was good I promise. Feeling a bit empowered by the wine, we took a stroll to see the bridge lit up at night. Mom really likes this bridge. We enjoyed walking through the parks and seeing the Christmas lights all over. It’s a really great time to tour; apparently it’s insanely crowded in the summer months. I can’t imagine how packed it can be. Even now is still quite touristy. Apparently Ronda is one of the most visited towns in the region- I would’ve never guessed. I just picked it cuz there were lots of wineries around.
Overall, really enjoyed this city :)
2025-02-16