The Bullfighting City of Ronda, Spain

It is hard to believe that a month has already passed, but looking back at my experiences so far, it's hard to say that I've wasted a day.  Classes are getting a little bit tougher and we are approaching the week of first exams.  Unfortunately, my monuments class was cancelled this week, so no interesting pictures or facts about Seville, but definitely next week.  On Friday, we took a day trip to Ronda, Spain, which is about a two hour bus ride.  The drive was spent gazing outside the window at the endless fields and rolling hills.  Much different scenary than that of Seville, Ronda is a quaint city that has an old town and a new town, that is divided by a river that lies 100 ft. below.  Ronda is known for its bull fighting, and this ring is the oldest and second largest in the world.  They measure by the diameter of the circle rather than the capacity.  Our tour guide told us that tickets for some fights can range up to 1,500 euro.  They still hold bull fights here but in the meantime one of the oldest equestrian classes is stationed here and the marks you see in the picture above are from a recent class.  The official population of Ronda is about 30,000 people, but this number is a bit skewed due to the area surrounding Ronda, which is mostly farm land but nonetheless holds about 20,000 people.  

The picture of me above is to justify that I am really going to these places and not just pulling these from the internet.  The view from the city was stunning, a couple other students from the program and I spent majority of our time overlooking the valley.  Our tour guide told us that in the old days, in order to bring water up to the city, they would have to hike down to the river and then carry buckets of water up.  Symbolically, there were 365 steps towards to river indicating a step per day in the year.  There was a feeling of remoteness while in city, much like good ole White Stone, VA.  Only a day was spent in Ronda, but definitely a spot that might be revisted in the future.  Rain came this weekend, which made for a relaxful time, eating, drinking, and of course watching soccer.  Sunday will be spent video chatting my big belly sister, pregnant not fat, and watching Manchester United play at a local bar.  This is a great weekend to relax before I head to Lisbon, Portugal in two weeks!  Yes, I am already looking forward to that trip.  Hasta el próximo domingo (until next Sunday), ¡Adios!