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The next day dawned bright and sunny, with everything clean from the
rain. We navigated our car through the Sacramonte and Albaicin, and
went on our way to the hill towns of Andalucia.
The first town we passed was Olvera, a town that didn't even receive a
star
from the Michelin guide, but it sure was picturesque!
We decided that on our way to Arcos, where we had reservations at the
Parador, we would stop by Ronda. Ronda is the largest of the white
towns, and  it
boasts a gorge-straddling bridge built in 1751 (the first one was built in
1735 but fell after six years). The gorge unites the town over the
ravine, which separates the old Moorish town from the new town built after
1435.
It's really easy to get to the center of Ronda--just drive up on nice
big roads,
and park in the underground garage. After Granada, we definitely
appreciated this! We explored the bridge, and then decided to have
lunch at the Parador, located right at the edge of the cliff (you can see
the windows for it in the picture above). Another great meal, I just
can't say enough about those excellent Paradors! Once we were
stuffed we made our way around the rest of the town. We went to the
Mondragon Palace, built in the 14th century and restored in the
16th. It houses a prehistoric museum, which was almost as
interesting as the building itself. We continued our walking tour around
the back of the town,  where
we
crossed the Puente Viejo, built in 1616 over the ruins of a roman
bridge. We started up the other side of the gorge, and got these
great views of the town.
Ronda is also the birthplace of modern bullfighting. In the early
1700s, Francisco Romero established the rules and thus t his
barbaric sport was born. Even though I would never attend an actual
bullfight, a visit to the first bullfighting ring was in
order.
It was getting late, so we left Ronda and drove the hour or so to
Arcos. The Parador in Arcos is perched on the cliff at the top of
the town, which meant another windy drive up tiny streets. There is
only one way up the town (and one way down) which meant there was no
chance of getting lost, which was nice. We parked our car, and got
our room. Because we hadn't arrived or called before 4pm (the
instructions on the reservation I received were hardly clear on this
point) they had given our room away, but we got another with a balcony and
a view--even better!
We had dinner at the recommended Restaurante El Convento, and walked
down towards the vuelta y vuelta in the new part of town. Mark
remembered these "walks" (areas of the town where all the people
go to see and be seen) as being totally fun when he was an exchange
student in Spain. I see why! All of the 21 and under crowd was
there. This was no longer our scene, so we returned to the hotel and
turned in for the night.
The next day we headed back to Ronda, because I had seen the sign for
the Cueva de la Pileta, which are caves with prehistoric cave paintings,
open to the
public. I really wanted to see these. We stopped first at
Zahara, a tiny little town with a ruined castle and a good view of the
valley below. It was around 10:15 at this point, and the last tour
for the caves before the siesta was at 11:00. We decided to make a
run for it. We went up this treacherous road with switchbacks and
tight, blind turns and I was white-knuckled at the end of it. Mark
of course thought it was great fun! We hit Grazelema, which was
still a good 30 minutes from the cave, at 10:55. Mark wanted to
press on, so we drove along these windy scenic roads at about 45 mph--way,
way too fast! Of
course by the time we made it to the caves it was well past 11:00, so we
had to drive all the way back to Grazelema for lunch. After all of
this driving, Mark was no longer in his happy place, as you can see in
this picture.
We had lunch in Grazelema, and then drove back to the caves just in
time for the first tour of the afternoon. It was incredible!!!
The caves were full of stalagtites and stalagmites, and paintings dating
back to 20,000 BC. Think  about
it--to the people who made those paintings, we are peers of the Romans!
Here's a postcard of the caves: they don't let you take pictures
because of the potential for damage. This was without a doubt my
highlight of the trip. I didn't know there were cave paintings in
Andalucia, and I never thought I would have the opportunity to see them in
my lifetime. Too cool.
We were very keyed up after the cave visit--it more than made up for
any arguments that may have ensued over the stupidity of trying to travel
40km in five minutes over windy roads. We returned to Arcos, and
after taking a walking tour of that town, we had a nice dinner in the
Parador.
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