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We had a spare day before flying up to Amsterdam tonight so Joe and I grabbed a rental car and headed South to be tourists.
First stop was Gibraltar, about an hour south of Marbella.
Gibraltar is actually part of Great Britain. It was cloudy but the rock was still impressive. We drove up to the top. The St Thomas cave was just stunning. We also walked through the Siege Tunnels looking over Gibraltar and the water.
Driving through the narrow one way streets was a blast. Gibraltar was fairly bleak though very interesting.
We then headed down to Tarifa the famous Windsurfing spot. Almost as well known as Maui and the Hood River George, Tarifa is one of those places I really wanted to see. Woo was here last summer.
After the continuous construction of the Costa del Sol, Tarifa was a welcome relief. The buildings were more traditional, with the backdrop of the amazing ocean. Definitely felt like a surf town and I’d love to come back here in the summer and do some sailing. Really liked it.
There were a couple of guys speed sailing, but the season here hasn’t really kicked off yet.
On a tip from Joe’s wife we then headed back up to Marbella and inland to Ronda. We have a new Mercedes E280CD. (200 Euro for the day.) Those Diesels get up and go and we were back in Marbella in around 35 minutes. We picked up another work buddy Dave and started heading up the hill and into the fog.
After climbing through deep fog for 30 minutes we must have been miles up. The road was spectacular, then suddenly you see the amazing site of Ronda.
Ronda was just breathtaking. A real Spanish city, at high altitude. It seems to be perched on the top of a dramatic hill, with a bridge connecting the two sides. Considering how far we’d driven and how high we were it was surprisingly big and full of cafes. After the sunburned English beer drinkers of the Costa del Sol this felt like the real Spain. We were just stunned by the town. One of the most fantastic places I’ve been too.
After a quick look at the bull ring we headed to the airport.
A very cool day.
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