To: Ronda, Spain, Tues, 10/19/21

From Seville, we'll journey through the Andalusian countryside and its splendid white villages to Ronda, and not necessarily by Important Roads, as the locals call a "freeway" or a tollway.  Nope, we'd do a bit of wandering.  We saw lots of fields -- rice, cotton (already picked), etc, as well as the usual olive orchards.  They irrigate the fields here, so crops don't have to depend on (nonexistent) summer rainfall.

Me and my new friend 😁,

waiting for the tram.

Our first stop was Arcos de la Frontera, where we'd board a cute li'l tram for the ride up to the top ('cause the narrow passageways preclude any bus in the world traveling on them!).  We waited and waited, and then our Group Leader and our local guide called for taxis to come get us.  It was MUCH TOO STEEP to walk it.

At the top:  Our local guide bought a package of homemade cookies from the last remaining cloistered convent in Arcos: The Convent of the Barefoot Mercedarian Order.  You order through a vertical tube (above), the cookies are delivered via a rotating turntable, and you pay in the same now-empty turntable, and everyone remains anonymous.

Me taking a picture of Jimmy taking a picture.

How original 😊

It was crowded up here.  Lots of tourists clamoring for picture-taking space.  You see most people are wearing a mask. Above is the Church of San Pedro.

Detail of the church.

Aha!  Here's the tram, and it's full of happy, waving children!  Too late for us!  We toured all around and then walked down to where the bus could pick us up.

Next the bus drove to El Bosqueño, a cheese tasting place, aka Quesos Artesanos.  With wine, if you chose.  These cheeses are made with milk from the payoya goat (a local breed from the Sierra de Cádiz mtns), resulting in cheeses that are a white color with a mild flavor and a firm texture. They said the cheeses are ideal for diets as they contain little fat (no mention of cholesterol).  Traveling as we are, we didn't buy any, but we did taste and enjoyed each cheese.  However, we were given a vacuum-sealed pkg of cheese as we departed, and many thanks!

Yummy!

One of three serving "trays."

In case anyone was still hungry, lunch was the next stop.  I wrote down the name of the restaurant, but apparently not correctly, but I can tell you the food was delicious and the view even better.  It's up there somewhere.

And it had an "infinity" pool.  Hey, Jimmy -- take one step back!  (kidding)  The drop from the pool was straight down ... a very long way!  I would've loved a swim, but the water was cold.  Boo hoo

Here's a pic of the front of the restaurant.  It's located in the UNESCO-listed Sierra de Grazalema mountains.

Gorgeous Bougainvillea.

The mountains are covered almost to the summit with olive orchards.  The reservoir below the mountain is low, waiting for rain.  Our guide even said to us, "It's a pretty landscape, but it should be greener."  She sounds like a Californian!

So ... tomorrow we tour the city.  It's SOMETHING ELSE!