Monday, January 25
About 4:20 this morning we woke up to a long rolling earthquake. Our room was on the 9th floor of the hotel. I’m sure that intensified the effect. I looked up the earthquake on the USGS earthquake site. They say it was a 6.1 centered about 75 miles south west of us out in the Mediterranean.
We left the hotel at 8:30 to take the subway to Málaga and then the train to Ronda. The train ride went through some particularly scenic areas. We went though the Garganta del Chorro, a 4 km long gorge. There were several tunnels including one long one but we still got to see some great vistas. The gorge is particularly well known for the Camino del Rey, a one meter wide path that hugs the canyon wall 100 meters above the ground. It was closed in 2000 because it had fallen into disrepair and a couple of tourists died. It reopened last year. It looks like something we should do on a future trip. In the picture taken from the train window you can kind of see the path. The link above has more information.
In Ronda there is another gorge that divides the town in half. There are three bridges that span the gorge. They are called Puente Nuevo (the New Bridge), the old bridge and the Roman bridge. The new bridge was completed in the 1790s we are staying at the Parado that overlooks the new bridge. That’s our Parador in the picture below.
After checking in we walked down to see the other two bridges and to explore the town. We stopped for a tapas snack and then had our free beer on the terrace of our Parador overlooking the Puente Nuevo. We had Spanish guitar music playing in the background. It was perfect.
Later we went for a walk to enjoy the sunset. The bull fighting ring is the first purpose built ring in Spain. Apparently it is a classic.
Tonight we are eating in the Parador restaurant.
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