Our Impromptu Spanish Christmas Vacation – Day Five in Ronda

Took a road trip to the Andalusian hill towns.

 

Thru the mountains and to Ronda.

Walked through the side streets, looking at the amazing architecture.

Found this neat little courtyard, which would have been perfect for a wedding! The event planner in me got really excited, imagining how this could be used for events! Hehe.

And this was our first view of the gorge…

    

Saw the original bull fighting ring and museum.

 

This is the riding stables, where those beautiful horses have been housed for centuries.

 

They still use the stables for the horses in training, and we got a glimpse at this beauty!

This oldest bull fighting ring in Spain – it was huge!

The bulls would be led through various gates and courtyards before getting to the ring.

 

Of course, all the trainers and helpers were safely above the bulls. That’s Mom and Brother up there on the platform.

 

We didn’t see any horses training the day we visited, but this is an active training ring.

Yup, that’s me listening to the audio tour.

This is one of the last passageways before going to the ring.

 

And this is the next view they would have had.

 

Of course, the bullfighters had to have something to hide behind if the bull got too close. This is one of the twelve or so in the ring, marked with the seal of the city, methinks.

 

They imported the sand because of its drainage ability. I didn’t pay too much attention to the details of the actual bullfighting because, um, I’m kind of squeamish and they got real specific.

You can see the royal box in the middle of the picture, marked with the gold around the entrance. Chairs would have been placed there, the best seats in the ring.

This picture gives a good idea of how big the place was! It was taken from one of the seats, right under the royal box from the precious picture.

This was right outside the ring and it takes a second to realize what you’re looking at. That’s a hook that the bull would be dragged up and then slaughtered for meat to be sold after the fight. Apparently, those steaks sold for a lot of money.

After touring the bullring, we ate lunch near by overlooking the valley…

 

We wanted to sit on this terrace, but it was too cold. But we still had a great view!

   

We saw the Puente Viajo (“old bridge” and way-tall valley… it was a looooong way down.

 

 

Walked down to the gate of Phillip V which was the original entrance to the old city of Ronda.

   

Drove back thru the hills and saw clouds and mists in the mountains.

   

Mom and I trespassed and walked on a private beach, just to see the sea.