Ronda to Arco de la Fronterra, Mountains

Thursday May 12

We decide to try the breakfast buffet at the hotel. Eggs, waffles, cereals, fruit, ham (of course) and cheese, rolls and pastries.  Not bad!  The orange juice here is often fresh and tasty.  Here we meet Rhyn, from Holland, who is here with a group for a big 100km bike race on Saturday.  He worked in Texas for a while and we chat about cycling, traveling, etc.  Friendly guy.

Today we plan to travel through some of the White Hill Towns and a National Park on our way to Arco de la Fronterra.  There are several towns with "de la Fonterra" attached, as they were established on what was then the frontier. We manage to get out of town but the rain picks up. We head into the mountains  to  Grazalema,

where we stop for a quick look at the mirador (overlook) before continuing.

We see hints of rugged mountains disappearing into the clouds, gorges and rocky terrain. We pass a couple of large reservoirs as well.  We pass several groups of wild mountain goats (or are they mountain sheep?) in a couple of different areas high in the mountains.

High mountain road

Lots of yellow flowering bushes - sweet broom maybe?

A goatherd and his herd cross in front of us and he motions for us to keep going, so we do - slowly.

On towards Zahara where the rain has let up. Lots of cactus in some areas!

and we decide to walk through town and climb to an old castle on a hill above town.  Small town with ups and downs, a few shops and cafes, and an old church.

Zahara from the castle

The path up to the castle is steep and paved with rocks and a bit overgrown in parts. There are some workers doing trimming and such down near the town but they haven't reached the top area yet.  It winds around the hill so that we probably walk 2 miles to go 3/4 of one as the crow flies - at least it feels that way.  Lots of rosemary and wildflowers along the way.

Waiting out the storm.

The rain returns with a little thunder and lightning, but we have reached the castle so we wait it out.  The stairs are very dark for the first 100' or so, so we use the flashlight option on my phone to find our way. A couple from Holland arrives at the height of the storm and we light the way for them when they can't find the stairs.  Not much to see here, as the castle is small and not furnished at all.  Nice views of the town and countryside through the weather.

We head back to town as the rain dwindles to occasional drips.  We stop in a few shops and buy some olive oil.

Zahara

Then we head back into the mountains and on to Arcos. We are staying at Hotel Olivos in Arcos and our GPS takes us there with only a few glitches.  Like everything in Arcos, it is on a hill.

We park on the street for about .75 an hour, but only have to pay till 8:00.  The front desk people are great and we have a cute room.  There is a lovely courtyard and we discover that many of the homes/buildings in this area have both tiled entryways and courtyards.

It is cloudy with some sun breaking through as we set out to explore. Lots of small streets and walkways - a real warren.

Another cathedral.

Typical tiled entry way

 We pass several churches and convents, assorted statues.  We really are curious about these hooded guys - will have to find an explanation somewhere! (We learn later they are penitents that belong to some religious Brotherhood and wear these robes during Holy Week processions.)

Here is a view looking out towards the country from atop Arcos.

 We kind of skipped lunch today so decide to look for somewhere to eat.  We try two of Rick Steves' suggestions, neither of which is still in business.  We stop at La Taverna and find that here as elsewhere, we can get a drink and a cold tapas now but dinner isn't served till 8:00.  We have a drink and a quail eggs tapas - tasted really good, maybe because we were starving.

 We come back to the room and have a bit of an issue making reservations for the next two nights in Seville - the well-located, reasonably priced places were filled!  We ended up finding an Ibis Hotel, which is a European chain.  It is 15-20 minutes from city center, but there is a local bus near by.

Miguel at the front desk recommends a restaurant named Babel which is nearby.  It is a tiny Moroccan place, and we are greeted by Oscar, the owner.  He is Spanish and his wife is Moroccan
and he is very friendly.  We have humus and pita bread to begin,

and then we share a couscous dish with chicken, onions, carrots, cabbage, zucchini and sweet potatoes - yum!

 And a filo pastry type pie (called Pastela)with cinnamon, shredded chicken, onions, almonds and "secret ingredient", all sprinkled with powdered sugar.

 Oscar chats about his family with us and another couple and then insists we try (on him) an after-dinner drink  (good for the digestion)called Otaloa made with herbs.   Nice dinner and we finish about 10:00 - like the Spanish!

Quiet, comfortable night.