Ronda, Spain, was among my top three places to visit during my recent journey to that country. The town is famous for its bridges. The Puente Nuevo was begun in 1751 and completed in 1793. There are two other bridges lower in the gorge that are much older. The following video gives an overview of these sights from several different angles.
Don’t limit yourself to a quick look at the bridges. Ronda also has a number of churches worth seeing as well as a famous bull ring, smart shopping streets, and great restaurants. I’ll have more on these in future posts.
Ronda’s Bridges, Spain
Hotel Cortijo La Alberca
Hotel Rural Cortijo La Alberca is located in Níjar, Spain. I describe it as handsomely comfortable because this place abounds in details. It is very well thought out in terms of the interior design of the rooms and other features on the grounds including the patios and swimming pool. My stay here was in April, so it was not warm enough to use the pool, but the water feature made the place that much more appealing. The location is at the very edge of town, deep in a gorge in the mountains as you can see in this photo.
That gives you a perspective on where you are as in how close to nature. Moving along, you’ll note the swimming pool next.
One of many, the iron lamp casts subtle light in the evening. The water feature continues from the pool in a narrow trough that carries the flow down past the rooms providing a touch of white noise that is very pleasant.
The rooms are grouped in a couple of buildings with patios that front the doors. Here’s the one where I stayed.
Great place for a gathering with friends, maybe a glass of wine with your significant other, or just yourself and a book. Inside you’ll find a comfortable bed when its time to finally get to sleep.
Of course you prefer a bathroom with class and this one fits the bill with the custom walk-in shower, ceramic tile counter, and lovely handmade sink.
That photo gives a good impression of the details I mentioned at the outset of this post. When choosing a hotel in Spain, or elsewhere, I always search for those with a personal touch as opposed to the corporate low-bidder design specials. Back to La Alberca. If you had a corporate outing or were traveling with a group, you’ll find the rooms close yet separate as they are in a couple different buildings, which gives everyone a chance to be together yet escape for a bit of privacy. The next photo shows one of the buildings.
Finally, you don’t have to worry about losing the key.
That hunk of wrought iron is about 8 inches long and weighs a pound. Like I said, this place has a unique character with plenty of handsome details.
Roman Ruins, Mérida
One of the main goals of my recent visit to Spain was to see the Roman ruins at Mérida. The Romans had a substantial settlement here, large enough to support an amphitheater and a theater side by side. There was also a handsome temple for the goddess Diana, among others. Naturally they needed a bridge to cross the river and sundry other structures such as an acqueduct to support their living requirements and commerce. The following video shows some of the things I saw.
Impressive, aren’t they? I was very impressed to say the least. Plus, there is a museum with hundreds of artifacts on display to give you a thorough understanding of the context in which these structures existed.
The town itself offers a menagerie of restaurants and shops, everything from trinkets to quality gifts. I would recommend a full day here, morning to late afternoon.
Home Cooking, Spain
As long as we’re talking about Biar and mentioning Casa Rural Mas Fontanelles, let’s stay in this locale for the topic of home cooking. You see, we arrived at this place on a Monday, the normal day off for the staff. Similarly, we were the only ones staying at the Casa. Therefore, the owner made us supper in much the fashion he might have for his own family. Naturally, we started with a nice bottle of wine.
This particular wine was light and tasty. It went well with the entire meal. The appetizer consisted of asparagus and sun dried tomatoes sauteed in olive oil and garlic. Simple, delicious.
Those tomatoes really had tremendous flavor, not overly sweet either. The main course was roast chicken with (I think) a bit of sauté action at the end. Again, big flavor from what could have been a run of the mill entré.
Note the cherry tomatoes and artichokes on the side of the plate. Plenty of hearty vegetables for healthy eating. Dessert was simple, fresh fruit served as it comes from the source.
Note the level of wine in the bottle. That might have been the second one. Who can remember? No matter. I enjoyed this simple meal, especially the interaction with the owner as he shuttled back and forth from the nearby kitchen to our table. The only thing that could have made it better would have been his company at the table.
The Bent Page 
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