John Edward Cooper’s Notes

RONDA & TAPAS EVENING IN SEVILLE
This morning after breakfast we take the drive into the beautiful hills which form the stunning backdrop to the coast and then arrive in Ronda, which enjoys a setting which could be in a fairytale, full of natural drama and is widely acknowledged as one of the most spectacularly located cities in Spain. It is built on a ridge and is split by a most impressive gorge below, and because of its almost impregnable position Ronda was one of the last Moorish bastions of power, only falling to the Christians in 1485. The two halves of the town are joined by a massive eighteenth century stone bridge. In the town itself, there is a palace to see which was once home to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella – paymasters of Columbus. With lots of good restaurants and tapas bars it is a splendid spot to spend a few hours exploring its classic Moorish maze of cobbled alleys, window grilles and dazzling whitewashed houses. Much of Ronda’s appeal lies in its spectacular views and clear, mountain air – Andalucia at its simple best. We continue our drive and see some very scenic countryside which really is quite isolated, so much so it is not unusual to see eagles, vultures and ibex roaming the mountains.
We then arrive in Seville and our hotel, the three-star superior Don Paco where we stay for the next three nights. It is very well situated on the edge of the Old Town in one of Seville’s many squares, is fully air-conditioned and has a rooftop swimming pool.
This evening, we enjoy an evening of delicious tapas. It is said tapas dishes were originally slices of bread or meat used by sherry drinkers in Andalusian taverns to cover their glasses and keep fruit flies away. The meat was often salty, encouraging thirst and alcohol sales. Restaurant owners began to create their own snacks to serve with sherry, and tapas eventually became as important as the drink! Over the centuries with the introduction of olives, tomatoes, peppers and potatoes, tapas dishes gradually evolved into a most delightful tradition.

The alarm clock sounded at 6.45am. It was still dark outside, for the sun thought it was 4.45am! “I’d had [only] 2–3 hours’ sleep,” Janet wrote, despite having ten hours in bed. I checked e-mail accounts (06:55).… Transferred 34 photos from the camera to the WD Elements HDD (07:03–07:04). Looked at them in Windows Photo Viewer, and rotated two that needed it (07:06). Remembered today to change the time on the camera from BST to CEST. We went down for breakfast. I had orange juice; and bacon, ratatouille, and a couple of spicy sausages. Janet noted that, for her, “it was airless in the dining room.” Usually, in these establishments, there is air-conditioning, often making the ambience uncomfortably cold: not here! I don’t recall anything amiss there; my only grievance was the disgraceful din outside our room last night disturbing my sleep, unmitigated by having the window shut. We went back to the room, to empty the safe and collect our bags and suitcases. Just before we left, I took three photos through the window.


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 08:38:26
Views from our room: the courtyard of the hotel


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 08:38:48
Views from our room: dates, fallen from the palm trees


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 08:40:02
Views from our room: the mist-shrouded Sierra de Mijas

I returned the key to reception, and wheeled the suitcases out to be stowed in the “hold” of the coach, while Janet boarded. As is usual on Riviera holidays, Manuel had written all our names on cards, and placed them on the seats which we were to sit on. On subsequent days, there was a systematic way of moving to different seats. I forgot to mention my immediate comment yesterday on attempting to sit down on the coach: “This is a coach for midgets!” For there wasn’t enough space between my seat and the one in front to sit with my knees positioned straight forward; I had to sit with legs splayed so that the knees were either side of the seat-back in front of me. I’m 5' 10" tall, I’m not a giant! Even Janet, at 5' 3", thought the seating cramped.


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 08:42:48
Loading cases on the coach


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 08:43:12
View of the Sierra de Mijas from that location

We set out a little after 8.45am for the journey to Seville, with a visit on the way to Ronda. Initially, we went back to the road running parallel to the coast that we’d been on yesterday, going along it 25 or so miles farther west, skirting Marbella on the way, before turning right and winding in a north-north-westerly direction through mountains. Manuel told us much about Spain, its history, etc., including the Civil War.[i]

[i] I.e., on this and on subsequent trips throughout the week.

Saturday 2 September 2017 — 10:10:20
Views en route to Ronda


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 10:13:42
Views en route to Ronda

30-some miles along there, and perhaps nine miles before we got to Ronda, we had a refreshment stop at a café-bar-bodega, with a Spanish flag, two EU flags, and a British flag flying outside it, next door to a leather factory. I had a café americano. It was so much simpler than at an equivalent roadside establishment in Italy: here, you went to the counter, asked for what you wanted, paid for it, and got it; there, typically, you’d have to go the counter and decide what you wanted, go to the cashier and tell them what you wanted, pay for it and receive a slip from the till, then take that to the counter, hand it over, and only then get what you wanted.


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 10:43:16
A stop en route to Ronda: Joanna leather factory and café–bar–bodega


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 10:43:16 (detail)
A stop en route to Ronda: café–bar–bodega

We got to Ronda a bit before 11.30am. Manuel had handed out photocopied A4-size maps of the city, with the route from the bus station, where the coach was, to the Plaza de España highlighted. Indeed, this was the route that Janet and I initially followed. Just beyond the Plaza de España was the New Bridge over the dizzyingly deep Tajo de Ronda gorge. Built in 1793, it was hardly “new”; but it was newer than the other two, the Arab Bridge and the Old (1616) Bridge.




Saturday 2 September 2017 — 11:33:38
Ronda: Puente Nuevo over the 100m-deep Tajo de Ronda


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 11:33:58
Ronda: Puente Nuevo over the 100m-deep Tajo de Ronda


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 11:34:46
Ronda: Tajo de Ronda, looking west


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 11:37:26
Ronda: Puente Nuevo over the 100m-deep Tajo de Ronda


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 11:38:24
Ronda: Tajo de Ronda, looking east

We crossed the bridge, proceeding along Calle Armiñán. We’d decided that we wanted to look in the Church of Santa María Mayor, the first glimpse of which we caught looking to the right along Callejón de los Tramposos.


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 11:44:42
Ronda: First glimpse of the Church of Santa María Mayor at the end of Callejón de los Tramposos

We walked around the church, northwards, westwards, southwards, emerging into the Plaza Duquesa de Parcent at the southern end of the church.




Saturday 2 September 2017 — 11:45:54
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, door on the east side




Saturday 2 September 2017 — 11:46:02
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, door on the east side


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 11:46:38
Ronda: Heading north along Calle González Campos


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 11:46:50
Ronda: Interesting niche in the wall of this house in Calle González Campos




Saturday 2 September 2017 — 11:47:46
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, north side.
The round tower to the left is the top of a spiral stairwell, giving access to the fenced platform.




Saturday 2 September 2017 — 11:48:46
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, west side, with a door opposite the one shown in 11:45:54


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 11:49:16
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, bell tower


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 11:49:32
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, detail of the bell tower




Saturday 2 September 2017 — 11:50:02
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, the door shown in 11:48:46, with an interesting pair of knockers


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 11:51:06
Ronda: Drinking fountain and lavatory (in the original sense) in Calle San Juan Bosco to the west of the Church of Santa María Mayor; above it a relief: “XIV VIA CRVCIS”, i.e. the fourteenth Station of the Cross


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 11:51:16
“XIV VIA CRVCIS”

Its façade was unusual in having as its right half an arcaded porch, topped by two balconies giving spectators a view of activities and festivities in the Plaza Duquesa de Parcent (especially formerly, before it was laid out like a park), as did the arcaded balconies of the nearby City Hall (cf. “12:24:36”).


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 11:52:48
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, south side




Saturday 2 September 2017 — 11:53:04
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, south side


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 11:54:16
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, south side

In a transparent pocket of my wallet I keep a scanned copy of the photo-page of my passport, and by showing this, and a similar one I’d made for Janet, we got in for €3 each, the reduced rate for retired people (“jubilados”).





According to the ticket, it’s a “colegiata” (“collegiate [church]”), not as stated on Manuel’s map a “cathedral church”.


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:00:16
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, altars on the south side


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:01:22
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, south side




Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:01:56
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, south side


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:02:52
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, west side, steps down to the crypt

We went down to look at exhibits in the crypt. Most of the illuminated manuscripts on display there were, in fact, replicas of ones held elsewhere, though a music manuscript codex looked original, judging from its rather dilapidated state.


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:03:48
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, crypt


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:04:34
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, illuminated manuscript


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:05:02
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, illuminated manuscript


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:06:38
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, music manuscript


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:08:08
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, exhibits in the crypt


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:08:46
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, exhibits in the crypt.
It surprised me to see that the material used in this modern “Head of the Dead Christ” was “poliéster”.


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:09:54
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, exhibits in the crypt




Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:10:18
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, reascending from the crypt

The nave was divided into two by the choir, at the back of which was a wooden screen with fourteen numbered carved panels, though they weren’t the fourteen Stations of the Cross; e.g. “IX” was the boy Jesus in the temple, sitting with the teachers (Luke 2:46–50). This scene appears in the “Mysteries of the Rosary”, but there it’s №5 not №9.


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:11:10
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, screen at the rear of the choir


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:11:40
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, screen at the rear of the choir


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:11:40 (edited detail)
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, screen at the rear of the choir




Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:12:02
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, screen at the rear of the choir


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:12:02 (edited detail)
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, screen at the rear of the choir


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:13:40
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, screen at the rear of the choir


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:13:40 (edited detail)
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, screen at the rear of the choir


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:14:50
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, to the left of the choir, looking north




Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:15:28
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, painting in a niche in the west wall, depicting scenes from the Apocalypse


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:15:28 (edited detail)
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, painting in a niche in the west wall, depicting scenes from the Apocalypse




Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:15:50
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, painting in a niche in the west wall, depicting scenes from the Crucifixion


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:15:50 (edited detail)
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, painting in a niche in the west wall, depicting scenes from the Crucifixion




Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:16:16
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, altar on the west side




Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:16:24
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, the two apses at the north end of the west side




Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:16:32
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, view north from the central aisle




Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:16:46
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, the two apses at the north end of the east side, viewed from the central aisle




Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:16:52
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, east side, viewed from the central aisle, and part of the choir


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:17:28
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, choir




Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:17:48
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, the central apse on the north side, with the main altar




Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:18:34
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, northern apse on the west side




Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:19:02
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, pulpit, and (background:) the two apses at the north end of the west side




Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:19:32
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, main altar




Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:19:58
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, smaller apse to the right of the main altar

There was a spiral stairway leading to a platform running round the east, north and west sides of part of the church. Janet wrote: “We headed off for the old town and had a good look around a church. Earlier we’d crossed a bridge… over a gorge. I had vertigo when I looked down ([the] first time for ages [that I’d experienced this]). I attempted to go up a stone spiral staircase for a panoramic view but could only go half-way. Odd!” I’d felt the same when we went up the Lamberti tower in Verona on 21 June 2012; but today, apart from feeling very slightly wobbly, I was OK.




Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:20:38
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor: (right:) entrance, at the back of the northern apse on the east side, to the sacristy; and (centre:) door of the spiral stairway to the platform




Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:21:26
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, spiral stairway


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:21:54
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, spiral stairway


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:22:30
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, view east from a window part-way up the spiral stairway


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:22:52
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, spiral stairway


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:24:10
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, looking north from the eastern platform


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:24:10 (detail)
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, ornamentation above the cupola of the stairwell


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:24:20
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, looking east from the eastern platform


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:24:36
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, looking south from the eastern platform: (below, left:) the City Hall; (behind it:) Church of Santa María Auxiliadora


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:25:44
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, looking north from the northern platform


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:26:12
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, looking west from the western platform


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:26:26
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, looking west from the western platform


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:26:50
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, looking more or less south-west from the western platform


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:27:14
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, looking south from the western platform


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:27:24
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, looking more or less south-west from the western platform


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:28:42
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, door from the eastern platform to an inner gallery


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:29:22
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, views from the gallery: main altar, right


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:30:02
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, views from the gallery


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:30:44
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, redescending to the nave


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:32:36
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, photo of Pope John Paul II on the east wall




Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:32:52
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, altar on the east wall




Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:33:22
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, gigantic painting of St. Christopher on the south wall


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:34:00
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, entrance to an upper room and first-floor balcony


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:34:38
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, upper room


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:35:20
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, first floor balcony on the north side


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:35:34
Ronda: Plaza Duquesa de Parcent and City Hall


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:36:08
Ronda: Church of Santa María Mayor, upper room

Leaving the church, we found our way back into Calle Armiñán, and continued south along it a short way, so I could get a view of a church I’d spotted earlier, with bells in the gable-top of its façade.


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:42:52
Ronda: Church of Church of Santa María Auxiliadora, seen from Calle Armiñán


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:42:52 (detail)
Ronda: Church of Santa María Auxiliadora
(Spanish: “Saint Mary Helper [of Christians]”)
 MARIA AUXILIUM
 CHRISTIANORUM
 ORA PRO NOBIS
 Mary Help
 of Christians
 pray for us

Time was short, so we didn’t visit it; we turned back. We needed to find somewhere for lunch before returning to the bus station for a 3pm departure. Manuel had pointed out on the map the Plaza del Socorro as being a place with bars and restaurants, so we thought we’d go there. I didn’t want to return by the way we’d come, though, so from where we were we turned right and went down the first street that we came to: the stepped, narrow Calle Endermero Narciso. On the map, the way by the city wall and then across the Old Bridge looks level and straightforward, but it proved to be neither! The way actually took us through an arch in the city wall and steeply down, so that the city was atop a high cliff to our left as we descended.


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:43:56
Ronda: Calle Endermero Narciso


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:45:10
Ronda: city wall


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:46:02
Ronda: proceeding northwards within the city wall


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:46:32
Ronda: city wall


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:46:44
Ronda: proceeding northwards within the city wall


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:47:26
Ronda: proceeding northwards within the city wall


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:48:38
Ronda: proceeding northwards within the city wall


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:49:16
Ronda: through a gateway in the city wall


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:50:12
Ronda: descending northwards into the valley of the Guadalevín River

It was not much farther along, when I decided to hurry on ahead and scout out whether we were in fact going the right way. I was less affected by the wearying effect of the day’s heat than Janet was. At the bottom of the path, I found a left turn along the gorge and a way, albeit steep, up to the Old Bridge. So I returned to Janet, and we went that way, rather than turning back.


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:51:20
Ronda: descending northwards into the valley of the Guadalevín River


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:57:50
Ronda: descending northwards into the valley of the Guadalevín River


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 12:59:42
Ronda: Arab Bridge


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 13:00:54
Ronda: ascending to the Old Bridge


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 13:02:32
Ronda: the Old Bridge


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 13:03:32
Ronda: view south-east from the Old Bridge: Arab Bridge; and (beyond:) Arab Baths

As we were crossing the Old Bridge, I looked behind, and saw what would have been a more direct and less steep way out of the old city through a standalone arch.


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 13:03:52
Ronda: view south-west from the Old Bridge (i.e. looking back), Philip V Arch


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 13:04:12
Ronda: view north-west from the Old Bridge, Tajo de Ronda


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 13:04:30
Ronda: crossing the Old Bridge

I decided that to skirt by the left of the church that lay ahead of us (Nuestro Padre Jesús) along Calle Santa Cecilia, then carry on along Calle los Vicentes, would be as good a way as any. Again, the map didn’t prepare us for how steep that road was! “…Then [we] walked up a very steep cobbled street to get to the new town,” Janet wrote. “I had to keep stopping as I was breathless. What? Mind you, the road was very steep, it was very hot — and very high up. Altitude? A bit odd. Anyway, I soon recovered.” I think it was the endless-seeming slope and the relentless heat; altitude wasn’t the problem, for it was a mere 739m (2,425ft). For comparison, Titicaca was 3,812m (12,507ft), Machu Picchu 2,430m (7,970ft), and on Mount Etna we got to an altitude in between those two: 2,920m (9,580ft) (its total height is 3,329m (10,922ft)).


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 13:08:14
Ronda: ascending along Calle los Vicentes

We found ourselves in Plaza Carmen Abela, at the end of which was the main shopping street Calle Espinel. This was decorated with strings of thousands of spherical lanterns, similar to those we’d seen in Mijas, black ones and white ones in this case, for 28th August to 3rd September was the fair and festival in honour of legendary 18th century Ronda bullfighter Pedro Romero. “Legendary” — I hadn’t heard of him, though! The street was jammed full of people; nevertheless, we turned left and made our way along it, as far as the location we sought: Plaza del Socorro.


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 13:15:16
Ronda: water feature in Plaza Carmen Abela


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 13:16:06
Ronda: Calle Espinel


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 13:18:48
Ronda: Plaza del Socorro


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 13:19:06
Ronda: Plaza del Socorro — Hercules, two lions, and the Pillars of Hercules

It was in a street off Plaza del Socorro, though, Calle Pedro Romero, not in the square itself, where we found a restaurant, and entered for lunch. Manuel had mentioned gazpacho, a cold soup of puréed tomatoes and other blended raw vegetables; so I tried and quite enjoyed this. I followed it with veal stew. Janet had a salad and bread. I had a couple of beers; and Janet broke with her eschewal of cola on this occasion. One cola wasn’t going to leach the calcium out of her bones, though it’s suspected of doing this with regular, long-term consumption.


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 13:33:32
Ronda: Restaurante Hermanos Macias, Calle Pedro Romero, 3


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 14:16:50
Ronda: Restaurante Hermanos Macias, Calle Pedro Romero, 3

We left ca.2.15pm. The end of Calle Pedro Romero, appropriately enough given its name, brought us out opposite the Bullring, which we’d passed on our outward walk from the coach this morning; and apart from a diversion into the park just beyond that, we retraced our route back to the bus station.


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 14:18:32
Ronda: Bullring


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 14:19:20
Ronda: Bullring


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 14:19:46
Ronda: Bullring


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 14:19:46 (detail)
Ronda: bronze statue of Pedro Romero (1754–1839), quasi-legendary bullfighter from Ronda

At the far side of the park was a view over the vertical cliff to fields far below and mountains beyond, with a platform actually projecting from the cliff, so I took some photos. “Again I got vertigo,” Janet commented.


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 14:23:12
Ronda: park, Alameda del Tajo


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 14:25:52
Ronda: views from Alameda del Tajo


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 14:26:04
Ronda: views from Alameda del Tajo


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 14:26:14
Ronda: panorama of views from Alameda del Tajo


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 14:26:20
Ronda: panorama of views from Alameda del Tajo


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 14:26:26
Ronda: panorama of views from Alameda del Tajo


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 14:26:34
Ronda: panorama of views from Alameda del Tajo


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 14:26:46
Ronda: views from Alameda del Tajo


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 14:26:58
Ronda: views from Alameda del Tajo


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 14:27:40
Ronda: views from Alameda del Tajo


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 14:28:34
Ronda: park, Alameda del Tajo

I took a photo of Janet standing next to and posing like a statue of a “Dama Goyesca”. During the Pedro Romero fair and festival many people dress in a style reminiscent of the paintings of Goya, men in short jackets, very straight trousers, and wide brimmed hats, and women in gowns of satin and lace. In addition, each year a group of young women are chosen to accompany the president of the festivities as “Damas Goyescas”.


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 14:31:28
Ronda: posing with a statue of a “Dama Goyesca” in Alameda del Tajo


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 14:31:28 (detail)


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 14:32:30
Ronda: statue of Pedro Romero in Alameda del Tajo, erected in 1954, the bicentenary of his birth

At the adjacent Plaza de la Merced, where stands the Church of Nuestra Señora de la Merced (pictured below), a police car was parked across the street, to prevent the entry of vehicular traffic into Calle Virgen de la Paz, the street along which we’d come from the Bullring. This, we guessed, was so that the people partying could spill out into the street.


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 14:34:26
Ronda: Church of Nuestra Señora de la Merced (“Our Lady of Mercy”)


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 14:35:36
Ronda: Church of Nuestra Señora de la Merced (“Our Lady of Mercy”)


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 14:35:36 (detail)

We got back to the bus station at ca.2.45pm, and set off on the 80-mile journey north-west to Seville at ca.3pm. We travelled there, initially though mountainous terrain, without a break, and arrived a bit after 5 o’clock. Manuel handed out A3-size photocopied maps of Seville.




Saturday 2 September 2017 — 15:22:42
View from the coach en route to Seville

The sliding glass doors into the hotel lobby were a few steps down from street level. On each side of the steps there was a ridiculously steep ramp, so I had to be careful that the cases didn’t run away from me. I pitied the poor wheelchair-user who had to try to get out, up that way! If ever there was lip-service paid to the requirement for ramps, this was it! Manuel called names and handed out keys — card-in-a-slot this time, not a “real” key.



We had a bit of a wait for the lift to the fourth floor. The card gave us no difficulty opening the door. (One of the women on our tour had a card that later ceased to work.) Use of the safe deposit box, into which we put passports, cash we didn’t need, etc., was without any charge here. Almost straight away, we went back down, out of the hotel, turned right and visited the supermarket just four doors along the square (Plaza Padre Jerónimo de Córdoba). We bought a bottle of water, three bottles of Coca Cola Zero, and eight cans of 7Up Free (Janet was pleased to be able to find that) (at 17:33:01, according to the till receipt).



Back up in the room, Janet took things out of cases and hung them up, etc. I set up the computer, and logged on to the internet using the hotel Wi-Fi. Checked e-mail accounts (18:04), and looked at Facebook (17:06–17:17). Then it was time to shut down, for we were meet in the lobby at 6.30pm, to walk to the location of the “Tapas Evening” promised in the tour blurb. Plaza Padre Jerónimo de Córdoba, on the corner of which our hotel was situated, was off Calle Escuelas Pías; and the tapas bar and restaurant, El Rincón del Tito, was less than 200 yards away, on Calle Escuelas Pías itself. It was set back from the line of the other buildings in the street, creating a space outside shaded from the sun. Most of the party sat there, on tables for four. Janet and I sat with a pleasant couple from Sheffield, Norman and Josie. There were little hard biscuits put out on the tables, and other things to nibble. Tinto de verano, red table wine mixed with lemonade in equal parts, was a beverage mentioned by Manuel earlier, perhaps when he also told us about gazpacho; but it was a glass of red wine that I ordered. As soon as they started bringing out small, elongated plates, each with four little ramekins of tapas on it, and I saw what they contained — a tiny wrinkly whole fish, a batter ball with (evidently, prawn) whiskers sticking out, and something looking like spinach shreds mixed with sick — my appetite instantly vanished, and I declined the plate offered to me. Janet only nibbled at hers; she had some bread as well. I did accept a ramekin when offered by Norman (and possibly Janet’s as well), which contained a couple of spoonfuls of gazpacho. At 7.30pm, Janet, feeling tired, returned to the hotel. I joined a group of people who were to walk with Manuel. We set out, then I hurried back to take a quick photo of El Rincón del Tito before catching them up.


Saturday 2 September 2017 — 19:43:12
Seville: El Rincón del Tito, Tapas Bar and Restaurant, Calle Escuelas Pías, 10

Manuel led us through the Plaza Ponce de León; round the north side of the Church of Santa Catalina (formerly a mosque);[ii] along Calle Almirante Apodaca; past the Church of San Pedro, another former mosque only partly disguised with a baroque façade, and retaining Moorish-style windows on the minaret (now a Gothic-topped bell-tower); on along Calle Imagen; continuing through the Plaza de la Encarnación, with an amazing gigantic, elaborate criss-cross wooden structure named Metropol Parasol (supposedly in the shape of six parasols but more popularly likened to mushrooms!); and carrying straight on beyond that, till we got to a narrow shopping street off to the left, Calle Sierpes. That was the way to the Cathedral. (Manuel had marked this route in yellow on the map, though I didn’t have the map with me just then.) I had no interest in looking at shops, so I turned back at this point. A man from the group caught me up: Dennis, I think his name was.[iii] I was reasonably certain of the way back, though having him along helped. Indeed, at the end of our walk it was he who first spotted our hotel. When I got back up to the room, Janet was having a shower. Transferred 130 photos from the camera to the WD Elements HDD (20:45–20:50). Looked at them in Windows Photo Viewer, and rotated 45 that needed it (20:52–21:00). Then I shut down the computer. The sound of the bell of a clock ringing nine times came through the wide-opened window. Between then and it sounding once for the half-hour Janet and I were in bed. (We’d already asked Manuel about the risk of mosquitoes, and ascertained that it was likely to be OK to have the window open.)

[ii] As indeed the Church of Santa María Mayor in Ronda had been, though this had been substantially rebuilt.
[iii] A day or so later he told someone that it was I who had met up with him!

[Sunday 3 September 2017]