De lindas mujeres, de sangre, y de sol...: To the south of southern Spain

I´m back from Morocco, and I can't wait to share pictures and stories about my adventures, but first I need to finish some older business and post my weekend in Ronda and Málaga! So here goes...

Three weekends ago our ISA group traveled by bus to two cities is southern Spain. Our first stop was the small, quaint city of Ronda. This white-washed city is rich in Andalusian history and offers, once again, a look back at how the various cultures of Spain lived together, or in this case more separate, throughout the ages. What makes Ronda worth the visit is its location. The city is built strategically on a cliff top looking over breath-taking valleys below. As the city expanded and the non-Muslim cultures moved in, a second part of the city was built, but on the other side of a dramatically deep ravine. Our tour guide walked us through the main streets and across the bridge that connects the two sides of the city (and which I believe is either the tallest, or one of the tallest bridges in Spain - I hope my photos give it justice!). From the bridge you could look along the cliff edge and see a yellow house that used to be the home of Ernest Hemingway, as well as other beautiful retreats for the wealthy vacationers from Málaga and surrounding coastal towns. While in the city, we also visited traditional Arab baths and the other landmark of Ronda, the bullfighting ring, or Plaza de Toros - but just for looks this time. No more bullfighting for me! Whew!

Houses on a cliff side - coming to be a very typical sight in Spain... This shows the original Jewish side of Ronda, separated from the Muslim side of the city by a dramatically deep ravine....that's certainly one way to keep cultures separate ; )

The New Bridge of Ronda - connecting the two neighborhoods of Ronda across a gorge. I highly recommend you look up more photos of this to see just how tall it really is!

The streets of classic Ronda

A gate entrance to Ronda that is still locked every night to keep out the mysterious evening wanderer

With Lauren from LU!

Inside the Arab bath house


I just can't get enough of the beautiful tile work

The lookout from an old house, converted into a school, converted into a tourist stop

The mighty bridge of Ronda

Our time in Ronda passed quickly and soon we were off to the Costa del Sol (Coast of the Sun) to the city of Málaga, which is second largest city in Andalusia. We arrived in the evening, giving me just enough time to venture from our hotel down to the beach to catch the sunset - thanks to my parents, I can't pass up a moment to be by the water ; ) For dinner we were on our own, so a group of us headed to the city center, which was bustling on that Saturday night in the balmy coastal breeze. We certainly enjoyed our dinner at a tiny traditional Spanish restaurant, but the real fun started when we entered a large, white beer tent to join in the Spanish-style Octoberfest being held in the main plaza of the city. It's still Spanish culture if you're surrounded by Spaniards, right? Well its the closest any of us would get to Munich, so we figured, why not? The next day was a full tour of the city that finished with a climb up through the Alcazaba, or city fortress, that in many ways looked very similar to the Alhambra in Granada, but certainly did not compete with the Alhambra's beauty. With our tour over, we headed down to the beach for some scrumptious paella and then walked barefoot to the water's edge. It was a perfect Sunday afternoon on the coast with a warm breeze, hot sun and cool water....so nice in fact, that we girls finally decided we needed to appreciate the day to the fullest by taking a dip in the Mediterranean. We only encountered one minor problem, which was that we had not brought our swimsuits, and we certainly weren't going skinny dipping in broad daylight... so let's just say we improvised with what we had and left time to dry off in the afternoon sun. To say the least, it all went quite swimmingly! ; )