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| Ronda |
Built astride a huge gash in the mountains carved out by the Río Guadalevín, Ronda occupies a spectacular location atop El Tajo gorge. It is the largest of Andalucía’s white towns. Modern bullfighting was practically invented here in the late 18th century, and the town’s fame was spread further by its close association with American Europhiles Ernest Hemingway (a lover of bullfighting) and Orson Welles (whose ashes are buried in the town).
Ronda’s old town largely dates from Islamic times, when it was an important cultural centre filled with mosques and palaces, many perched on the precipice of the gorge. The "old" bridge at the bottom of the gorge, which dates from Moorish times, was the only way to get to the other side of the river until the "new" bridge was built during the Renaissance. Now the new and old towns are connected straight across the gorge.
The 'new' town is perched atop steep cliffs, with parks and promenades looking regally over the surrounding mountains. At its center is the bull ring, where bull fights are held just twice a year in September.
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| The "New" Bridge in Ronda |
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| Street bench, Ronda |
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| Courtyard, Ronda |
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| Setenil |
On our second day in Ronda, we took a trip to La Cueva del Gato, a cave in the mountains where prehistoric cave paintings are to be found. It was a rough climb up to the cave and up and down through it, but it was all worth it, for in the last chamber we saw a drawing of a huge fish! There were horses and bulls, of course, but the fish remains unexplained.
One of the chambers or rooms of the cave, our guide explained, had perfect accoustics. Paco Diaz, who joined us for the day and was to give us a concert that evening (more on that in a minute) was with us and before we knew it, he had whipped out a pair of castanets and begun to sing. The room exploded in sound and the echos lasted long after the song was over. What an amazing experience!
Our lunch stop in Setenil was refreshing but it is such a fascinating little place that we we wound up walking all over it (the proverbial post-prandial stroll). It, too, is built in a gorge, a more shallow one than Ronda and in this case, the buildings are built right into the cliff faces. The streets were so narrow we wondered how anyone dared drive anything bigger than a Smart car and there seemed to be only one street that was flat!
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| Paco with Spanish Bagpipe |
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| Paco with Pan Pipe |
But the biggest treat of our day was a concert in the evening by Paco Diaz, a charming man, who is one of Spain's most outstanding folklorists. His specialty is the sephardic music of Spain, but his repertoire includes old ballads and love songs with Moorish and medieval Christian influences as well.
Tony, our always informed guide, translated the sense of the songs and I found that many told stories parallel to the English and American folk songs that so fascinated me in the 1960s -- soldiers gone to war, star-crossed lovers, and the like.
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| Paco with Hurdy Gurdy |
Paco's collection of instruments matches the age of his songs. He not only plays the guitar but also a Spanish bagpipe (said to be the origin of its more famous Irish and Scottish cousins); a pan pipe made of a vulture's bone, which he accompanies with two sticks that operate like castanets; and a small hurdy gurdy.
Not only a talented musician, Paco has a wonderful voice and the songs were lovely. But, in the hit of the evening, he confessed that he does occasionally sing in English and offered us a perfect rendition of "Love Me Tender, Love Me True". What a hoot!
