Bulls and a Bridge

 10-May-2022

Today we visit Ronda Spain, home of Spain's oldest bullring. Ronda also has a kick-ass gorge that separates the North (Christian) and South (Moorish) sides of town.  Nowadays it doesn't separate anything because nobody goes to church.  

The bullring is impressive but don't worry, we didn't see any bullfights.  The bullfights are held in September and everyone is looking forward to them. Tomorrow we will go to the farm where the bulls come from.

Even more impressive is the bridge over the gorge.  Below is a photo.

This bridge was built in the 18th century.  Imagine a bunch of  folks deciding to stack up enough bricks to build this thing.  I got tired just eating lunch at a restaurant with this view.

Besides the bridge and the bullring, Ronda is mostly a bunch of souvenir shops.

We stayed in a lovely hotel in the countryside with a beautiful rose garden.

The bar worked on the 'honor system'.  Make your own drinks and mark down your room and what you  had on a sheet of paper.  

My fellow travelers were foolish enough to disclose their room numbers.

Granada and the Alhambra

 9-May-2022

Granada is the home of the Alhambra, a Moorish castle and later the summer home of Charles V.  It is fortress on a cliff overlooking the city of Granada. It is one of most famous examples of Islamic architecture.  After the Christians reconquered this part of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella moved the capital to Granada. This is the spot where Christopher Columbus received his orders to 'Go West young man' and find a route to India to avoid those nasty Turks.  Some say he succeeded.

Alhambra at sunset from our dinner spot.

After a nice dinner with a great view we strolled back to the hotel to prepare for our tour of the Alhambra tomorrow.  Hope it isn't too hot.

Just kidding.  The weather has been really good, no rain and nice temps.

The town of Granada is a tourist heaven.  If you go to a bar and order a drink, they always bring you a tapa for free which is  a small snack.  Every time you order a drink you  get another tapa.  Three or four drinks and you've had dinner.  And  you have a hard time walking home.  Wonderful tapas customs in Granada.  

Good ice cream too.

The Unreachable Star

 08-May-2022

This is Miguel de Cervantes territory so we are hanging out at the windmills today.

This kind of windmill...

Not this kind..

So everyone in this neighborhood makes money from good old Miguel after he invented the novel with 'Don Quixote'.  The windmills are only a couple of hundred years old but the symbolism is still here.  Every shop is littered with stuff right out of 'Man from La Mancha' since we are in La Mancha. If Cervantes knew how much money he could make from one novel he probably would have written many more.

It turns out that Cervantes real life was even more amazing than his stories.  He lost an arm in the navy, was held captive by Barbary pirates for 5 years and later rejoined the navy.  He was a tax collector and government official before writing his best stuff.

After the windmills we stopped for lunch and then visited a small shop that sells saffron.  It takes 250,000 crocus flowers to produce 2 lbs of saffron and it is the world's most expensive spice.  We bought about $20 worth and the family  thanked us with a shot  of wine and a cookie.

Here's a million dollars worth of saffron.

After the saffron raid we moved on to Granada which is one of my favorite towns in Spain.

Holy Toledo

 08-May-2022

This is the original Toledo we are visiting today.  Not  that one in Ohio, although it turns out they are sister cities. There is even a street named for Toledo OH.

At one time, Toledo was the capital of this part of Spain.  When the kingdoms combined to make Spain a whole country the king decided to move the capital to Madrid in the center of the country.  Toledo is almost as hilly as Portugal so we got a workout on the usual tour of the city.

The cathedral is huge and we saw a wedding.  Cool car for the bride and groom of course.

The cathedral is really over the top.  It took the local peasants 270 years to build  and pay for it.

Our local guide took us through the Jewish quarter where there are no Jews since Queen Isabella kicked them all out in 1492.  They still maintain tourist gimmicks though.

Tomorrow  it's on to La Mancha and the windmills.

Aqueducts and piggies

 06-May-2022

Today we are on a day trip to Segovia, about an hour from Madrid.

The big deal in Segovia is the 2,000 year old Roman aqueduct. If you don't notice it they'll let you know.

The aqueduct is an amazing feat of engineering built with granite blocks and no cement or mortar.

Of course we checked out the local palaces and churches but the highlight was a dinner at restaurant Jose Maria. Specialty of the house is roast suckling pig. I won't describe the experience, let's just say it wasn't kosher.

Click below for a Youtube video of the pig splitting ritual...

Back to Madrid for the nightly stroll that starts around 11pm.