Danny the Romantic Matador Spain Day 5

We woke up super super early to take a taxi to the train station for our 7 am train to Rhonda. Danny of course took awhile getting ready and we almost didn’t make our train. But we did. Good thing we had packs and not rolling suitcases because we had to run! Since our train left so early we missed out on our free breakfast at the hotel and had to settle for the pastries we had bought in Barcelona. I was a little hesitant about choosing to take the earliest train to Rhonda and wanted to stay around Granada a little longer. Granada was super cool and Rhonda was just a little town in the middle of no where that was supposedly nice. What were we going to do all day in Rhonda? But there were only 3 trains to Rhonda 7 am, 1 pm, and 6 pm and it was a 2 hour trip so if we wanted any time in Rhonda we had to take the train at 7 am. Also, Danny was most looking forward to our trip to Rhonda so of course we were going to make the best of the day.

We arrived in Rhonda and my first thought was, “Here we go again. We are going to fight or get lost or take 2 hours to find where we need to go. We have a large learning curve and little patience.” But we read Rick Steve’s directions from the train station to town very carefully multiple times and continued to read them aloud as we followed them step by step.Once again we had the dilemma as to what to do with our packs as it was 9am and we couldn’t check in until 1pm and whatever we decided we would have to walk back to get our packs and walk to the hotel with them and we all know how fond I am of walking!! Luckily the bus station was half way between the train station and our hotel and it had lockers. So we left our packs there and continued on to find the main square. We got lost (of course) but at least it was a tiny tiny town and a nice resident noticed we were lost and pointed us in the right direction. We ended coming to a nice park with a gorgeous view…it ended up being right in front of the main plaza and famous bull fighting ring.

History: Rhonda is one of the Andalusia White Hill Top Towns. It was originally a strong hold for the Moorish Kingdom (capital was Granada). Rhonda sits way up high on the edge of a hill and is divided by a large Gorge into the old (Moorish) town and new town. A large bridge connects the two sides. Rhonda is also home to the first bull ring.

Picture of Danny and view from park (at this point we are still lost)

Once we turned the corner of the park we saw the bull ring and Danny got really excited. In a flash he had purchased our entrance tickets and we were on our way to visit the Bull Ring and its museum. The museum actually ended up being pretty interesting. I learned a lot about the origins of bull fighting and the symbolism behind all the pageantry. We saw Goya sketches of bull fights, paintings of famous bull fighters, a massive collections of old guns, and learned the rules and reasons behind dueling. The best part however was the bull ring it self. The whole museum and bull ring were pretty empty as we had stumbled upon it right as it was opening so we thought we had the place to ourselves. You can imagine what fun we had when we discovered the floor to the bull ring was open. Danny ran out to the center with the only red thing we had, our paper guide to the museum, and began to matador against an invisible bull. I yelled out to him “I expect to get an Ole out of you!”

Danny doing his bull fighting dance to the seemingly empty stands

Next thing I know we hear “Ole!! Ole!!” coming from the stands. Turns out we were not alone and some Spaniards were enjoying Danny’s demonstration. Danny had the biggest grin on his face the whole rest of the day. I got a good laugh out of it too.

After the bull ring tour we decided to walk back to get our packs, buy our bus tickets for the next day, and check into the hotel. Everything worked out great. Our hotel was nicer than our previous hotels AND IT HAD AC!!! Danny was very excited. The lady at the front desk of our hotel also told me I was pretty so I liked it better already. It also was only a 30 second walk to the main square. I was very happy with Danny’s choice of hotel!

For lunch Danny suggested we go to the grocery store and buy food for a romantic picnic (I think he knew I had reservations about what there was to do in Rhonda). We headed to the only grocery store we could find, a mini mart, and purchased some Salami, Havarti cheese, cookies, mini toasted bread, bottled water, and a 2 liter of Coke Zero. Next we set out with our bag of goodies to find a nice place to have our picnic. We crossed the new bridge and walked the Moorish quarter until we found a nice park (nice meaning there was shade) along the cliff and near the start of the trail for our hike, yes I said hike (ugh). Our picnic was especially delicious (I am now a big fan of Havarti) and we were even serenaded with some classical Spanish guitar.

Danny decided it was so romantic he had to take of pic of me eating my food

As we were finishing up our meal a devil dog came to beg for some food. This was a sign that it was time to start our hike. The down hill part was not bad but I was definitely worried about the hike back. It was all worth it though because we got to take some really cool pictures and see the ruins of the old roman wall.

Liz at the beginning of hike

Rhonda divided by the new bridge. Old Moorish town to the right and the new town to the left.

The New Bridge (Danny wanted to continue the hike down to the waterfall and go swimming, however I did no come prepared enough for that hike…next time)

Danny on top of the roman ruins with Rhonda in the background

Danny on top of the ruins of the roman wall and entrance

Best Europe shoes ever! You rock Puma Romas even though you looked hideous with my outfits and Danny made fun.

The hike back up the hill was horrible and worse was when we got to the top to rest… a bird pooped on Danny AND he sat in moss that stained the butt of his white shorts. HAHA. Poor kid.

After our rest we walked around the Moorish town, visited an old palace, the old gate, and the roman bridge; had some ice cream and cold sprite; and looked for souvenirs for family and Christmas ornaments (found none of both).

Me and a cute street

Danny and the old Moorish Gate

Danny and views from a palace garden

The gorge from the opposite side of our hike

Me with the Sultan’s Palace in the background

Finally dinner came around. Danny wanted to eat at a tapas bar but when we got there and read the menu there were no “Liz friendly food items”. So Danny let me pick where we would eat so of course I picked a place that served pizza (and other good things but pizza is always safe). Danny was pleased with my pic and it ended up being his fav place we ate in Spain…yeah for Liz picks! Our waiter was extremely nice. I ordered vegetarian pizza and I think Danny ordered chicken (they were both fixed menu items that day). He was excited to try Gazpacho (his salad or soup choice) for the first time and I must say it was delicious. I picked a salad of course (or I should say Danny picked it for me because I couldn’t read the menu). It was good as well. Our entrees were good and for dessert I chose a chocolate tart and Danny had flan. The flan was better of course (Danny always picks better than me. This time I chose. I could definitely understand chocolate). Next came the interesting part. Our waiter brought us shot glasses and filled them with this green liquor. We instantly became extremely awkward, exchanged a quick glance at each other, and then Danny explained to the waiter in Spanish that we didn’t drink alcohol. The waiter laughed at our shocked expressions and explained it was non-alcoholic apple liquor. We were hesitant but it was actually pretty good. Kind of like a liquefied apple Jolly Rancher. We’re on the look out to find the stuff in the US so if you see any…let us know. Our shot glasses are ready.

Doing apple shots

Which cost more? Water or Coke? (Ketchup bottle included in pic for scale)

After dinner we went back to the hotel because all the stores were closed. Danny had turned the AC in our room to the coldest setting so when we got back to our room it was freezing cold. Finally! We had plans to wake up early so we could buy some souvenirs in the morning but Danny decided he wanted to get to the bus station early to make sure we got seats next to each other. Neither of us was particularly looking forward to our long bus trip the next day. Up next, Seville!