Day 10 Monday, March 11th: Garmin GPS mayhem or Lana is tapa'ed out!
We both woke up in the middle of the night and heard the fellow in the apartment above us snoring away! Too funny. Another beautiful morning and in checking the weather forecast for our destination of Ronda it will be 24 degrees and blue skies. We need to pack our suitcases as today is moving day. Before we head for Ronda we are stopping at a local Supermercado to check out their wine section as they may have the wine I enjoyed yesterday on the beach. We head off down the network of streets and find a bakery. 2.05 Euro for two pastries that will be our breakfast. Already ate a banana!
Our destination of Ronda is one of the most famous towns in Spain. For us the major purpose for a three night stay is to enjoy some of the local wineries and to be in a smaller location. There is lots to do in this small place and I figure it might be too touristy?
Just before we are ready to leave and get our bill "La Cuenta Por Favor" I text our Airbnb host Alejandro to confirm we are in town. We are in luck as our apartment is ready despite the fact check-in time is 15:00. Alenjandro has sent us a 15 page PDF confirming all sorts of information about the apartment, check-in and parking logistics. He will not be meeting us at the apartment. In fact, this is very high tech. We enter an HTTP address and then a secret code and voila the front door of the apartment building opens! Parking is just around the corner although our mistake is to use the Garmin GPS as it took us all around the blocks thinking we were driving. In fact, it is a one minute walk from our parking area. Doh!
Smallish one bedroom apartment, but centrally located. We are in Apartment 2C which means we are actually on the third floor. It is common in Europe that Floor 1 is really the second level. Marble floors and some natural light coming in. We find very quickly that the place is pretty cold although the temperature outside is baking! Eventually, Lana turns on the heaters and the place is warming up. Weird though turning on the heaters when it is so warm outside. When we use the stairwell it is cold as well.
Lana hits the queen size bed and dozes off for her afternoon siesta. I update the blog and load some pictures. Plus, the most important task of recording our wine purchases in our wine database (excel spreadsheet). Then putting each wine inside our wine skins for travelling in our suitcases safely.
Our Airbnb host sends some links for possible destinations in Ronda. When Lana awakens we plan to get out on the street and warm up and head to the local supermarket. We buy some sparkling water, bananas, apple, bread and some mortadella. Mostly this is for our upcoming breakfasts.
We return to the apartment, put the stuff away and decide to take a stroll into the historical part of Ronda. Again, many tourists and tour groups roaming around. It is such a hot and beautiful sunny day. We make it to the Tourist Information office and pick up a free map.
OK, all you wanted to know about how they butcher pigs in Spain and the Spanish names for the cuts that we order in the restaurants is in this poster. We will keep this as a reference for restaurants.
Lana's first dish of Arroz a la Cubana (rice cover in tomato sauce, and a fried egg, and a sausage). This looks a bit odd yes? Just wait, . . .
Randy's order of Flamenquin Casero (breaded roll stuffed with ham and cheese)
Lana's second dish--an order of Filet of Veal with garlic.
Randy's order of Puntillitas Fritas (fried small squids) and a Beer
Lana's dessert of Decielo Con Nata, described a pudding but very thick, creamy and custard like. This is the same pastry she had at a bakery back in Sevilla. It had a light orange and caramel flavour. Mucho bueno!! Even though Randy wasn't officially allowed to have any food Lana would slip me bites of everything whenever the server wasn't looking :)
Lana was gobsmacked by these gigantic Heirloom Tomatoes!
We came across a Chinese Restaurant and this is a copy of part of their menu. Check out how cheap these dishes are!
Our destination of Ronda is one of the most famous towns in Spain. For us the major purpose for a three night stay is to enjoy some of the local wineries and to be in a smaller location. There is lots to do in this small place and I figure it might be too touristy?
Online Picture of Ronda
Málaga to Ronda Google Maps
Down to the garage and I carefully navigate the car out of the tight parking spot with Lana's help and then line it up with the yellow vertical stripes on both walls so we can activate the garage door opener with our remote control. Very strange... Again, driving within the core of Málaga is frustrating as there is construction, barricades and detours all over the place so it feels like we are driving around in circles. We have many wrong turns before we find the El Cortes Ingles Supermercado and then to the Parking garage located below street level. The parking spots are incredibly narrow and with walls on one side so it takes about five minutes to back your car in angling a little bit at a time. We take the escalator upstairs to the huge supermarket that has a wine section in many aisles. Lana disappears to look for the bathroom and isn't seen again for quite some time.
No problem as I need to find the wine I love and look for other wine purchases as the prices are excellent and the selection unbelievable. I find a couple of young ladies that speak some english and are wine experts. I find the Verdejo José Pariente wine although it is a 2018 vintage. I put four (4) bottles aside in the cart as the probabilities are good it will taste very similar to the 2017 vintage. The clerk indicates that this is the very best representation of the Verdejo grape and this wine style is dry. Plus, she said it was her very favourite Verdejo. The price is 9.95 Euro per bottle which is about $15CDN. There are not many good white wines for purchase in Vancouver for under $20CDN.
I ask for a couple more Spanish white wines that are semi-dry and she shows me the best bottle of a Godello and then two different Albariño bottles which I purchase. The most expensive of the three bottles is 14.44Euro. The shelves are full of Rioja of course, but I am interested in other Spanish red wine. I am a fan of Ribera Del Duero and she points out a Crianza 2016 from Abadía de San Quirce for 16.55 Euro each which is a steal by our values. I buy two bottles as there is a good deal for the purchase of two. That is a total of nine (9) bottles of Spanish wine for about 100Euros.
Lana finally returns and is happy as she saw a French skin care brand she has been trying, but the prices were similar to Canada. She then found her French Hair Care brand and it was a good deal so purchased two items. We are both happy with our finds and we have two bottles of Orange Marmalade as well. We need to pay for our parking stub in a machine and Lana has change. Downstairs to the garage and carefully navigate out of the spot and then onto the street. More challenges for the Garmin GPS to get out of the core of Málaga, but we eventually get on a main road and out of town we go! Yeh! Stress has immediately lessened. About 25 kms later the GPS goes into meltdown mode and our car on the GPS screen is spinning madly about! Yikes!!! Lana is very chill and reminds me that this has happened before and there's no reason to panic. The GPS will reconnect with the satellite and realign us to our correct location. Sure enough it does this after a few minutes.
There are mountains in the distance as we drive westward and then northward. Many extremely large orchards with what we think are orange and lemon trees? Once we are off the freeway and heading towards Ronda there are much more winding roads and some pretty crazy maniac drivers making passes just before corners. If you think I am a crazy driver, my style is nothing like these crazies! All of a sudden we are upon Ronda and it is much busier in terms of traffic than I had expected from a smaller place.There are any tourists and lots of tour groups in the streets. We stop for gas and fill up our tank for 53 Euro at 1.279 Euro per litre. We are getting hungry and my research from yesterday afternoon identied a great Spanish cuisine/tapas place across town. We are on our way using the Garmin GPS and it melts down again. Oh well. We do find the place though.
Yes, parking is at a real premium in this town. All parking spots are taken on the street. We find a spot where I can straddle 1/2 the sidewalk behind another car. Bodega San Francisco will be our lunch spot. The place is highly rated on more than one review site. The server attends to us reasonably quickly and we find a menu. When he returns we are ready to order. In addition to our two plates of food we order a sparkling water and a glass of Vino Blanco. Total bill (inclusive of the basket of bread they brought us although we didn't ask for it) was 20.50 Euros with the highest price for a plate of, yes, Randy's favourite--Octopus. The food is excellent and the bread is used to sop up the olive oil from the octopus and potatoes (yummy!).
There are mountains in the distance as we drive westward and then northward. Many extremely large orchards with what we think are orange and lemon trees? Once we are off the freeway and heading towards Ronda there are much more winding roads and some pretty crazy maniac drivers making passes just before corners. If you think I am a crazy driver, my style is nothing like these crazies! All of a sudden we are upon Ronda and it is much busier in terms of traffic than I had expected from a smaller place.There are any tourists and lots of tour groups in the streets. We stop for gas and fill up our tank for 53 Euro at 1.279 Euro per litre. We are getting hungry and my research from yesterday afternoon identied a great Spanish cuisine/tapas place across town. We are on our way using the Garmin GPS and it melts down again. Oh well. We do find the place though.
Yes, parking is at a real premium in this town. All parking spots are taken on the street. We find a spot where I can straddle 1/2 the sidewalk behind another car. Bodega San Francisco will be our lunch spot. The place is highly rated on more than one review site. The server attends to us reasonably quickly and we find a menu. When he returns we are ready to order. In addition to our two plates of food we order a sparkling water and a glass of Vino Blanco. Total bill (inclusive of the basket of bread they brought us although we didn't ask for it) was 20.50 Euros with the highest price for a plate of, yes, Randy's favourite--Octopus. The food is excellent and the bread is used to sop up the olive oil from the octopus and potatoes (yummy!).
There are two different fronts for this restaurant and the other is across the street.
Rather than inside the restaurant, we decide to sit in their seats in the plaza across the street. We always prefer outdoor dining. The waiters need to constantly cross the street.
Order of Pimientos Fritos del Padrón (fried patron peppers with salt). Lana loved this dish--like Shishito peppers only sweeter :)
Order of Pulpo a la Gallega (Octopus with paprika and potatoes). Very juicy and cooked perfectly.
Lana was curious about this working van that has its own air conditioning unit for the Mozzarellas on its roof to keep the back cool.
Just before we are ready to leave and get our bill "La Cuenta Por Favor" I text our Airbnb host Alejandro to confirm we are in town. We are in luck as our apartment is ready despite the fact check-in time is 15:00. Alenjandro has sent us a 15 page PDF confirming all sorts of information about the apartment, check-in and parking logistics. He will not be meeting us at the apartment. In fact, this is very high tech. We enter an HTTP address and then a secret code and voila the front door of the apartment building opens! Parking is just around the corner although our mistake is to use the Garmin GPS as it took us all around the blocks thinking we were driving. In fact, it is a one minute walk from our parking area. Doh!
Smallish one bedroom apartment, but centrally located. We are in Apartment 2C which means we are actually on the third floor. It is common in Europe that Floor 1 is really the second level. Marble floors and some natural light coming in. We find very quickly that the place is pretty cold although the temperature outside is baking! Eventually, Lana turns on the heaters and the place is warming up. Weird though turning on the heaters when it is so warm outside. When we use the stairwell it is cold as well.
Lana hits the queen size bed and dozes off for her afternoon siesta. I update the blog and load some pictures. Plus, the most important task of recording our wine purchases in our wine database (excel spreadsheet). Then putting each wine inside our wine skins for travelling in our suitcases safely.
Our Airbnb host sends some links for possible destinations in Ronda. When Lana awakens we plan to get out on the street and warm up and head to the local supermarket. We buy some sparkling water, bananas, apple, bread and some mortadella. Mostly this is for our upcoming breakfasts.
We return to the apartment, put the stuff away and decide to take a stroll into the historical part of Ronda. Again, many tourists and tour groups roaming around. It is such a hot and beautiful sunny day. We make it to the Tourist Information office and pick up a free map.
Panorama shot of the western side of Ronda. Quite a distinct landscape here and especially right in Ronda itself.
We are very high above the plain below us so this is a shot of the plain.
Distinctive cliffs on this side of Ronda with a long drop onto the plains below.
Plaza de Toros. Built in the 18th Century and has the largest bullring in the world. It is very famous in Spain and visited by many Spanish citizens. This bull is trying to escape.
The very famous Ponte Nueva. All sorts of fellow tourists are here and the views are spectacular of the surrounding area and the gorge down below with a small river. You can't see the larger port opening below though. Coming up in another picture!!
Hotels and residences perched on the cliff above the El Tajo gorge beside the Ponte Nuevo.
Another angle of the Ponte Nuevo. Now you can see the enormous opening below!
Randy loves the Plaza Mondragon. Orange trees framing the white painted houses with the tiled roofs and the incredible blue sky. To me this seems so Spanish.
Randy the bandolero.
Another angle of the residences perched right on the cliff face above the gorge. Let's hope for no earthquakes or landslides...it is a loong drop to the bottom.
OK, all you wanted to know about how they butcher pigs in Spain and the Spanish names for the cuts that we order in the restaurants is in this poster. We will keep this as a reference for restaurants.
We walk in the boiling sun and in the shade through parts of Ronda. Mostly the older section of Ronda. No backpack nor my trusty notebook. Very liberating. Eventually, we enter a bakery and purchase a delicious cookie and a pastry which we vacuum while sitting in the shade on an old metal seat near the Ponte Nuevo and people watch. Pretty easy to figure out where we are and how to return to the apartment. Back to the room and our laundry is still running and will take up to five hours to finish. The apartment is finally warm so that is fantastic.
We have a couple of important tasks to complete. We want to book two more wine tours/tastings while in Ronda. I contact Bodega Joaquin Fernandez and speak to the owner. We can get an english speaking private wine tour/tasting tomorrow at 16:00. Plus, I need to figure out our dinner destination and we are not waiting until 20:00 to eat tonight. We are hungry now. I find a restaurant through Trip Advisor "Cafeteria Bar La Quinta" and it is about a five minute walk. They have an english menu although we are getting better at figuring out the Spanish meal titles. Lana orders the "Menu del Dia" which is menu of the day. For 9 Euros she gets her choice of two plates, a drink (Tinto de Verano) and dessert. That is a fantastic deal. The one negative is her partner is not allowed to help her eat it or drink it.
Outside of this very casual and local hangout Cafeteria Bar La Quinta
Randy's order of Lagrimitas de Pollo (seasoned fried chicken)
Lana's first dish of Arroz a la Cubana (rice cover in tomato sauce, and a fried egg, and a sausage). This looks a bit odd yes? Just wait, . . .
Lana mixed her dish up and this is the result. It was delicious!!
Randy's order of Flamenquin Casero (breaded roll stuffed with ham and cheese)
Lana's second dish--an order of Filet of Veal with garlic.
Randy's order of Puntillitas Fritas (fried small squids) and a Beer
Lana's dessert of Decielo Con Nata, described a pudding but very thick, creamy and custard like. This is the same pastry she had at a bakery back in Sevilla. It had a light orange and caramel flavour. Mucho bueno!! Even though Randy wasn't officially allowed to have any food Lana would slip me bites of everything whenever the server wasn't looking :)
Three restaurant observations:
- we did not receive the customary complimentary bowl of olives (maybe this isn't done in Ronda)?
- the menus in Spain rarely have wine by the glass so you simply order either a copa of Vino Blanco or Vino Tinto
- The vegetable served with everything here appears to be french fries!! Seriously!!!
Our bill total was 16.60 Euros. We tried some dishes we have never eaten before. Very casual place with unpretentious staff and the place is frequented by locals. This is our kind of dining.
We have an easy walk back to our apartment and on the way we entered into some Fruta (Fruit) markets. Check out this pic!
Lana was gobsmacked by these gigantic Heirloom Tomatoes!
We came across a Chinese Restaurant and this is a copy of part of their menu. Check out how cheap these dishes are!
Yup, out of the washer/dryer our clothes are still damp. We have two more full days so they will be dry by then. Good idea of Lana to hang dry our laundry.
Our goal tonight is to be in bed by 22:00 and get a better rest. Interesting that with a high today of 24 the low tonight will be 6 degrees! An 18 degree drop in temperature. We just meet our goal of being in bed by the stated goal. We are both tired.
STATS FOR TODAY: 14,000+ steps, 10 kms and 25 floors.
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