So I know this is a few days late since my excursion to Ronda and Málaga, but better late than never right? Lately my “to-do” list has been getting ever longer and with my newly found Spanish attitude of “just do it later,” things just pile up without me noticing it. Jess and I have a list for all the things we hope to accomplish on Monday. 11 things to be exact. I predict 5 will get done. Aside from that random fact of life and my excuse for not having this blog up earlier, Ronda and Málaga were two amazing places.
Friday morning we left with our ISA group from Sevilla to Ronda. It was only like an hour and a half bus ride, but the scenery and vibe of the town is completely different. Ronda is built within series of cliffs that drop forever. I’m not kidding, you could take a wrong step off one of those cliffs and be falling for 5 minutes before you’d hit the ground! But despite that constant danger, Ronda is an amazing city. Its views are amazing and seeing birds fly BELOW you is an absolutely amazing feeling. It really is a city in the sky.
One of the most important sites in Ronda is “El Puente Nuevo” or “New Bridge” in English. New bridge? Well what happened to the old one? Weellll…it collapsed. I guess Roman infrastructure back then wasn’t meant to last forever. So they rebuilt the bridge in the 18th century and it’s been there ever since. I’m still constantly amazed at the fact that people were able to build such elaborate and elegant structures without the help of modern day technology. Can’t imagine how many lives were lost in that process, but maybe that’s what makes this bridge such an amazing thing. The amount of effort that it took to make something like this will never be matched in today’s society.
After a quick tour of the city a group of us decided to hike down the ravine to get a better look at the city from below…Now any of you who know me know that I HATE hiking. HAAAAAATE hiking..with a passion. But, then I thought to myself, “When am I ever gonna have a chance to hike down the city of Ronda again?” So needless to say, I sucked it up like a big girl and went waay down. AND I didn’t even complain!! (I know, MIRACLE) But I suppose I didn’t want people to hate me on the way back up in case I needed some help. Although I dislike hiking and would have preferred to take a lift up and down the ravine, the view was really cool. We even found a little waterfall place which ended up being perfect for pictures. :) The way back up was harder than the way back down, but I considered it my exercise for the day. With only a short while left in Ronda the group wondered around and went window shopping.
It was a short trip in Ronda, but from there Jesse and I split from the group and went to take a bus to Málaga. We went to the window to by our bus ticket at the bus station, but seeing as how it was 3:15 PM the office was closed for the siesta. *Sigh* Fortunately, the bus we wanted didn’t leave till 4 so we figured we had some time. Around 3:40 or so a lady comes to the bus window, we buy our tickets for the “Los Amarillos” bus, and head out of the office to find our ride. This last step, however, is easier said than done.
On our ticket it said we were to take bus number 1. Simple enough right? We walk down the isle of buses to look for number 1 until we realize that none of the buses have numbers on them. Cool. We then look up and see that the parking spaces where the buses are DO have numbers on them…ooookay. :) That makes sense now. So we walk down to number one and wait for the doors to be open. At 3:53 we start to worry a little bit since the bus driver hasn’t even opened the doors yet and no one else seems to be waiting with us. I go and ask the bus driver where the bus to Málaga is and he tells us it should be in spot 5 or 6. Soooo we walk back down to 5 and 6 only to find out that no, those buses aren’t going to Málaga either. At this point I am convinced we bought tickets for an imaginary bus going to an imaginary town until finally way out in the distance I see a bus that says, “Los Amarillo.” This bus isn’t even in the bus parking lot! It’s just chillin on the side of some street with a line of people coming from it. We hurry over to that bus and sure enough it’s the one we want. After about another hour and a half we finally arrive in Málaga.
Málaga is located on the coast of Spain and has amazing beaches. When we arrived in Málaga our first mission became to find the hostel in which we were staying. I’ve never stayed in a hostel before and therefore really didn’t know what to expect. We wandered around for a good while before finally asking someone where it was, but we did find it eventually. We went out to a nice little Italian restaurant and then went to bed since we were worn out from our long day of travel. We started the next morning early since we wanted to spend all day going around Málaga.
First thing on the agenda, Picasso museum. Picasso was born in Málaga, but left when he was 19 and never returned. :( He went to Italy to learn art and decided he liked it better than here, which I found very hard to believe. This museum was amazing. I’ve never really looked at any of Picasso’s art work before, but I did know he was one for abstract art of interesting forms. How he was able to think and paint the way he did I will never know. The lines and the shapes he used to create his artwork were amazing. I could never make a triangle do half of the things he did. He would make portraits of people simply out of triangles. How he was able to envision all that blows my mind. Aside from the fact that we know him as a very abstract artist, he also had some works of art there that looked, well, “normal” if you will. Some paintings had normal looking people like a photograph, yet next to it would be the “typical” Picasso with a nose on the head and the ears where the mouth is supposed to be. Seeing these two COMLETELY different styles next to each other impressed me even more. It was like he had a switch or something in his mind that he could turn on and off whenever he wanted. Wish I had that ability!! And what’s even better is that he didn’t just paint and draw things he sculpted things too! Is there anything this guy couldn’t do?? His sculptures were more on the abstract side, but they were so interesting. He would make pots and bowls and then paint on them random pictures that somehow completed the piece. He also hand made little figurines of people and animals that showed off his whimsical side. I really enjoyed this museum and feel I got the chance to see not only some of Picasso’s famous pieces, but also the lesser known ones that are just as impressive. Thank you Picasso for opening my mind to the impossible. I will never look at a piece of fruit in the same way again. :)
Once we finished the Picasso museum we went shopping in Plaza Mayor and I bought some suuuper cute jeans. Lol Spain has the best clothes I swear. I’m not gonna be able to shop in America when I come back. And finally we hit the beach, of course. :) We went to Playa de la Misericordia. It’s a small beach, but also one of the less touristy beaches in Málaga. Only the locals go there (or so our host mom told us). Either way I got to forget about the world for 5 hours and just lie there. The sun on my face, wind on my body, and the sound of ocean waves in my ear made me realize how lucky I am to be where I am. I feel as though this experience has given me a chance to start over. New friends, new places, and best of all new experiences. I could have stayed there forever, if only I didn’t miss my friends, family, and life back in AZ. Arizona does hold a special place in my heart, but I don’t think it will be the last place I ever live. Spain just keeps gettin better and better every day.
Unfortunately, reality has to hit at some point and we had to get up and leave for the train station to catch our train back to Sevilla. We arrived back in Sevilla around 11 PM and headed for home. (It’s funny how we refer to Pelay Correa 16 as our home now, but for the next 3 months I suppose it’s the closest thing we have)…
I could get used to traveling around Spain. It truly is an amazing country. So many different atmospheres separated by only a few hours. Can’t wait to experience some more. :)
Cádiz, Madrid, Toledo, Sevilla, Ronda, Málaga…check.
Barcelona, Valencia, Córdoba, Granada…you’re next.
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