Aloha Everyone,
J.J. and I had two main activities for today. In the morning we went to see the Plaza de Toros. Built between 1779 to 1785, it is the oldest bullring in Spain that is still in use. Bullfighting, I suppose, maybe compared to music concerts. Bullfighters go on a circuit and in Ronda, this year’s bullfights were held from August 28 to September 3rd. During winter months, matadors from Ronda go to South America.
Even during off season, it is one of the top attractions in Ronda. The two of us paid €7 each and entered the stadium along with large groups of Spanish, German, French and Chinese tourists. The ring diameter is 217 ft. There are two levels for seating, each having five raised rows. I tried to walk around the entire ring, but the section reserved for the royal family was gated.
Two famous bullfighting families from Ronda, the Romeros and Ordóñez, are honored inside the museum and at one of the entrances to the bullring. In Ernest Hemingway’s novel, The Sun Also Rises, Cayetano Ordóñez was his inspiration for the bullfighter.
During the afternoon, the two of us walked to the Old Town, then hiked down to a promontory point to get another perspective of the New Bridge. It is a moderate hike but the uneven terrain and loose gravels made it precarious. If you look at the last photo on the right hand side, that is how far down J.J. and I hiked.
This was also a good day for my exercise. Walking up and down the stairs of our apartment (80 steps each round trip), walking within the bullring plus our hike added up to 11,561 step or 5 miles!
Waiting for the wash machine to finish so that we can hung our jackets to dry before we go to bed.
Aloha -- Cathi