Whilst staying in Gaucin, we headed over to Ronda for the day. It was a bit like Cheddar Gorge, in so far as it is very pretty, but totally overrun with tourists, overpriced cafes and souvenir shops.
Bridge in Ronda
Ronda is home to Spain’s oldest Bull Ring, which was closed. Apparently the most venerable of fighters come to the ring to strut their stuff!
We took a detour to the old Moorish city wall, with is evidently being used as a loo by some of the locals. Nice.
That said, we did taste the best paella that we have so far sampled since arriving in Spain… it was in a tiny bar up the pedestrianised shopping strip. On complenting the couple who ran the place, they proudly told me it was the best because it was Andalucian paella, and not Valencian!
Plus also bought a pair of double leather lined boots for 34 Euros. Mrs K almost fainted with surprise! Never before has she seen me shell out such vast sums on items of clobber.
The gorge and bridge itself is really very nice, but I’ll restrict any future visits to a drive through, rather than a prolonged stop.
That’s a shame your experience of Ronda wasn’t the best, the bridge is of course the biggest attraction so is often overrun with tourists, but there are times of the day when it is quiet and well worth taking a few moments to enjoy, and if you’re feeling fit you could also walk to the bottom of the gorge to view it from there.
The old walls bug me quite a bit as well, they really need some urgent work done to restore them to a state that makes them appealing, which might help with that other problem as well…