So Help Me, Ronda! More Rain!

Remember Konrad?  We're now experiencing Laurence. When a storm is big enough to have a name, and you are stuck in it, you will remember.  The whole Andalusian region is under an orange alert which as defined by the official state meteorology agency is "very organised and widespread thunderstorms. It is possible

 that locally very heavy rain and/or locally very strong winds and/or hail larger than 2 cm may occur. Tornadoes are also possible."

Here is a picture of our hotel this morning.  It's the white complex with a couple of balcony dining areas protruding out three stories high. Our lovely room is on the top floor just below the roofline and has the two large windows, wow!  Note the color and volume of the Guadalevin river at the bottom of the gorge.  Take a look at yesterday's photo of the gorge from our room and see what 80mm of rain in 12 hours can do.  Speaking of our hotel, the staircase is so elegant I don't mind walking the four flights up to our room.

We gathered just before 10am to do a local walk through the "hood".  

We recognize eachother by the colors of our umbrellas and rain gear and are becoming adept at bummperschute protocol: a following umbrella is responsible for not hitting the leading umbrella, and the taller of two passing umbrellas is raised to avoid collision.  Or at least that's my understanding.

The modified plan for today included a couple of down-and-up walks to see the two sides of the gorge and better understand the two halves of Ronda.  Why two halves you ask?  Apparently it has to do with a long ago tax system.  Don't go there.  Then we were supposed to hike across the valley and up to a winery for tasting and lunch.  No surprise to those of us sleeping directly under the roof last night was that today's hike was cancelled.  Even though it was a relatively easy hike to the winery, our Caspin Tour guides are excellent at reading our emotional tolerance for getting soaked and we used the brief weather window of opportunity (i.e. drizzle) to tour the first, purpose built bull ring in the world.  If the sheer beauty of the gorge and surrounding country hadn't already put Ronda on the Roman-Visagoth-Muslim-Christian maps, this bull ring sealed it's more recent historical notoriety.  Bullfighting is held here only for one week in September, and there is controversy about whether it should happen at all.  Two arguments for canceling the event are 1) it is a blood sport, something many oppose, and 2) more money is made from a week of people buying tickets to tour the inside of the facility than is made selling tickets for the week of actual bullfighting. Regardless of the future of bullfighting,  the lecture by our Caspin Tour guide, Jim, was a truly enthralling dive into the history, evolution, and meaning of the spectacle. 

As we each stepped into the ring, I'm quite sure everyone of us fantasized being charged by a bull and calculating whether you could reach the barrera in time.  And once there, could you squeeze behind it in time to avoid being gored?  Mark demonstrates above that manly bulk is not an advantage to a bullfighter.

Instead of hiking to the winery, we drove to it, Antonio yet again pointing out the route we would have taken.  Our tour is becoming a tour of looking at hiking paths, with lots of commentary like "over there, you can just see a trail.." and "pretend you see the pass we could be traversing."

We did catch enough of a dry spell to see the small but gorgeous vineyard below the winery.  Note there are still olive trees in the background but at a proportionally charming percentage of the landscape.

The winery is relatively new, only about 25 years old.  Grapes had been grown in the region for millenia, but the phylloxera epidemic in the 19th century wiped out all the crops. In 1998, the current owners purchased what was an abandoned monastery with church and converted/restored the property into the Bodega Descalzos Viejos.  It is a small winery with a yearly production of 3,300 bottles of four varieties of grapes.  It is a business, but feels truly like a labor of love, not just market opportunity or a rich man'shobby.  During restoration, they discovered very old frescoes adorning the walks of the church which add unique beauty to the opporation.

Meet Demetri the cat.  He greeted us on our decent down the driveway and escorted us throughout the whole tour.  He seems quite the gentleman and I believe understands several languages. 

He made himself comfortable on a few laps during our tasting and was most appreciated for his warmth (it was cold).  

Even cat-shunning Mark accepted Demetri's attention.  Eventually it became clear that Demetri's primary objective was not international goodwill, but a fondness for,  and expectation of a share of the Iberian ham we were given along with the tasting and in our lunch sandwiches.  Respecting local custom, several of us obliged him and diplomatic harmony was secured for the remainder of the tour.

We drove back to town and had a pleasant stroll from the parking lot to our hotel.  Tourists populated the main streets in town but most of the side streets were quiet and empty.  

St. Angela De La Cruz is honored in many towns.  I'm not sure what act gained her beatification and sainthood in 2003, but her hand in this bronze statue of her is polished bright by the touches of passersby.  I felt compelled to be one of them.

Buenas noches.