65. Setenil

On Wednesday, most of the group was too tired to think about another driving tour, but not Brian and Somchai. I charted an ambitious tour of some of the more out of the way White Towns, but a series of missed turns ensured that we only did a small fraction of my intended course. Annoyingly, we had to retrace our path to Ronda, since all local roads lead there. We then picked up a very detailed map, which was a big mistake, since it was very detailed, and very wrong. Outside of Ronda was a roundabout with six very clearly marked roads going (obviously) in different directions, at least on the map. The problem arose from the fact that on the ground, there were only five such roads, and the one we wanted was nowhere to be found. We spun around the roundabout for about a half hour looking for the sixth road but to no avail. So we gave up and took a much longer path to our first destination, Setenil. Again, your typical clifftop white town, but this one takes its defenses even more seriously. First you have to get through their incredibly narrow roads. We didn't, and we lost a mirror against one of those picturesque houses. We did have a very nice lunch at the restaurant in the little plaza, located thre because it's the only flat surface in town.

Just some closing photos of Ronda. At the end of the visit, Trish headed to the airport so some people went with her, while the lazy ones, including Somchai and me, headed back home, where Amy made a great dinner and we had a laid back evening at home.

Some random buildings inside the old town include the church of Santa Maria, which, like most churches in the area, was originally a mosque, and you can still see the minaret converted into a belfry. The palace hugging the cliff is the Mondragon Palace, which was the home of the local Moorish ruler. The elegant arched building is the current city hall.

While the town sits atop a giant rock, it does have a softer side as well. So the townspeople busied themselves building huge walls and forts around that approach as well. The surrounding countryside is quite pretty and there are lots of walks to take, but we didn't have time so we didn't make it beyond the walls.

After our long drive and leisurely lunch, didn't have much time for exploring the town. I also had a conference call so I walked around with a mobile in one hand and camera in the other, snapping random pictures. The rest of the group headed for a novelty photo studio, much to my surprise. As you can see from the photo assortment, we all sort of did our own thing for a while, some in period dress, others not so much.

The two sides of town are connected by the Puente Nuevo, which as Mom knows is the New Bridge. It's called the New Bridge because the first bridge to cross this gorge collapsed the day it was finished. The bridge empties into the more modern town square, pictured here. Below the bridge, dangling from the cliff face, is a very nice restaurant where we had a three hour lunch.

Andalucia was the first part of Spain to be conquered by the muslims from Africa, and the last part to be re-conquered by the Christians in the late 1400's. With all the armies marching back and forth, the regular folk soon learned to base themselves in some very unlikely but easily protected places, and Ronda is a good example. It sits atop a huge rocky outcrop, with a gorge dividing it into two parts. Houses line both sides, perched precariously alongside the gorge. Presumably there are no back doors to these places.

64. Ronda

On Tuesday, we took a group trip to Ronda, the only White Town that qualifies as a city. The trip was a very scenic, but very slow, meandering through the mountains, made even slower because we had to keep stopping for Tracey's bathroom breaks. As you can see, it is indeed white, and basically looks like Mijas. It even has a grown up version of Mijas' bullring. But as you'll see, it's spectacular setting makes it worth the long trip.