Ronda

We had a wonderful Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Spain visiting the beautiful city of Ronda. It is spectacular! Ronda is one of the places to see for vacationing Europeans in the south of Spain. The city stands on a towering plateau in the mountains of Malaga Province, and is famous through Spain for the plunging river gorge which divides the medieval from the 18th century parts of the town. We definitely felt the effects of vertigo as we looked down the cliffs and out to the farmland about 1000 feet below. On the 18th century side of town we toured the beautiful, if not a little disturbing, bull ring. The ring is renowned as the most beautiful in Spain. It also happens to be the oldest and the largest. Bull fights still take place there today. We also had the opportunity to see the Moorish bathes while we were there. The bathes are located on the older side of town and were built in the 13th century! Apparently, the Moors who lived in Ronda at the time, used the bathe house not only for cleanliness but also for religious purposes. We were also surprised to learn that woman had the opportunity to use the bathes on certain days. It is pretty amazing to stand in a building built and used so many, many years ago. The bathe house is the very best preserved in all of Europe.

Besides all the site seeing, we ate at a wonderful Italian restaurant in town and also widow shopped in the town's large shopping district. We were tempted by many beautiful things, especially since the rebajas are on (huge sales after Three King's Day). Jay had a great time too - he even endured more rattling as we pushed his stroller down cobblestone streets. We can't wait for all y'all to come visit so you can see these beautiful things too!

P.S. Anna was rather amused by these statues... I guess the men didn't learn the most necessary phrase to know while visiting Spain - Donde esta el bano?