Day 9 - Ronda

Rising amid a ring of dark, angular mountains, the full natural drama of Ronda is best appreciated as you enter the town. Built on an isolated ridge of the sierra, it?s slip in half by a gaping river gorge, El Tajo, which drop sheer for 130m on three sides. Still more spectacular, the gorge is spanned by a stupendous eighteen-century arched bridge, the Puento Nuevo, while tall whitewashed houses lean from its precipitous edges.

But on Lisa?s insistence, I had to blip the Casa del Rey Moro, an early eighteen-century mansion built on Moorish foundations. She literally fell in love with it and still says that, if she had the money, she would buy and renovate it. From the gardens, behind the house, a remarkable underground stairway, the Mina, descends to the river; these365 steps, guaranteeing a water supply in times of siege, were cut by Christian slaves in the fourteenth century.

A remarkable place where I could live for a while. More pictures here.

Thanks for watching.