“Help me, Rhonda Help Help me Rhonda”

I’ve had that Beach Boy’s song stuck in my head all weekend. The cause of this was a delightful little weekend excursion to Ronda, Andalusia (in the Malaga province).

On Saturday morning Angel and I got all loaded up with our moto gear (or as I like to call them, our space suits) and set off southwest to visit Ronda with our friends Rafa and Mel (Rafa is from there). We had a stop half way in a town called Antequera that was just darling winding cobblestone streets on steep hills, surrounding a giant castle/Alcazaba.

We found a bar to eat some migas and bocadillos in a plaza situated between a beautiful old iglesia and a charming mezquita. We walked around a tiny bit (in our space boots) before hopping back on the bike for the rest of the journey. Once we arrived in Ronda we met Mel and Rafa in a beautiful park along the edge of the cliff. The entire town is situated along this ENORMOUS drop-off.

There’s a huge huge huge bridge over the abyss that I can’t even imagine how they built 500 years ago. After dropping our stuff off (and putting on real shoes) the four of us headed our for a paseo through the town.

We explored the old town the most, it is incredibly well kept-up and clean. We walked along the old city wall (with towers!) and through some tiny little streets before starting our tapa- hopping. The first bar we went into had incredible tapas- meats, croquettes, fish, I had a fancy toasted cheese thing, and the local specialty- some sort of meat from a bull in a soup- delicious!

We also had a couple bottles of a delicious wine (Pago de Carraovejas Crianza 2006 D.O.Ribera del Duero) that had us each rocking the purple-teeth look.
Several bars later Melinda and I got to talking to an older American couple. They used to work for one of the larger newspapers (he was the editor, she a reporter) and have been coming to Ronda every year since 1973. They sure did have some wild stories!
After I finished my chocolate cake (I had seen someone else order it and wanted some too) the 6 of us headed across town (about a 5 minute walk) to a different bar- very cool. It had a kind of speak-easy feel to it. At this bar the dancing began and was carried on to a disco-teca nearby until the wee hours.
It was a fantastic night.
The next morning (afternoon) we all woke up and ate at Rafa’s mother’s house- they had prepared a big ol’ bacalao and some pork and veggies and pretty much a delicious feast (I even tried the fish). After the food coma wore off, we peeled ourselves from the sofas and drove down to the bottom of the cliff to see the view of the bridge from there.

 It was incredible. I can’t even compare the magnitude of this place to anywhere else I’ve ever seen. We then drove a little further down to Rafa’s family’s farmhouse- An enchanting 100ish year old, two story, yellow home with a big balcony and lots of land.

We met the 80-something sweet old couple next door and walked through the crops and garden. Inside the house were just piles and piles of neat old antiques (my dad would have had a field day looking at everything!) There was a larger salon and newly remodeled kitchen and bathroom downstairs, and three bedrooms upstairs. My favorite had a large princess curtained bed with an old washbasin stand and a window opening towards the gardens. The other two bedrooms were full of twin beds- clearly a very healthy catholic child-bearing family built this home.

 The four of us then returned to town to have one last café con leche before the drive home.






SABES QUE…

Ronda is one of the oldest cities in Spain. Archaelogists have found things dating back to before the Neolithic age, including many cave drawings (like this one).