Ronda

October 15, 2022

Tourist day, and trip planning

We enjoyed a nice slow start to our non-biking day after my best sleep yet. Thanks to the Classen's blog on this website, we have learned about maintenance work on the Via Verde de la Sierra bike route. That means that the tunnels are only fully open on weekends this fall. So we’ve decided to spend Sunday to Friday riding in a loop south of Ronda and plan to bike the via verde next Saturday morning. Because we have five days to complete a not-very-long route, the days shouldn't be long. But the profiles sure look hilly.

We walked below the 'new' bridge, along with lots of other gawkers, and saw some sport climbers out on this Saturday morning. As a reward, we went to a bakery and had something like a xiuxo that I've enjoyed before in Catalonia - puff pastry filled with pastry cream. But it wasn't as good.

Then we were off on foot to tour the very interesting Arab baths - apparently among the best preserved in Spain, followed by a tapas lunch. We finally tried ensalada rusa (this one was too mayo-y for me), a classic Spanish tortilla, anchovies in vinegar, and fried crumbs with garlic, pepper, chorizo, and ham. I guess the crumbs are in season! They weren't very memorable, to be honest.

And here's the Puente Viejo, built in 1616, and only used by pedestrians today.

Lots of development right along the cliffs.

The Arab baths had a very helpful video explaining each room

Then we continued our research project on Spanish ice cream. Today's selection also passed the test.

It was also a life and bike maintenance day. We had a siesta back at our apartment and we planned our routes in Komoot for the next while, booked accommodation, lubed our bike chains, checked bolts to make sure nothing had loosened, and I lowered the pins on my new flat pedals to limit puncture wounds to my shins and calves (a happy spoiler alert - it worked!).

We had dinner at a non tourist restaurant recommended by our accommodation- it was a bit of a hike from our apartment. How non touristy? People were watching bull fights on the tv screens. We enjoyed good food and wine, but waited an eternity for the bill, and didn't get back to our apartment until 10:30 pm. We’re turning Spanish.

An outdoor tapas lunch. Inexpensive, even in the tourist zone.

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