March 12, 2025 – Ronda, Spain – We left Seville yesterday morning, with a wonderful stop at the ancient Roman ruins 10 minutes out of town. Italica was the birthplace of two important Roman emperors, Trajan and Hadrian, who presided over the Roman empire at the height of its vastness and power. That they came from Spain, rich in metals and agricultural goods, is not surprising, and the grandeur of the city of Italica reflects their wealth and patronage. This city, on a rise in the landscape, was once almost forgotten, until its memory was revived in the last few hundred years and excavation began in the past century. Abutting the modern city, archeologists have uncovered a huge amphitheater, remains of a major temple to Trajan, a theatre, and homes graced with beautiful mosaics of birds, gods, and a medusa head. We wandered the rather muddy site, between rain showers, imagining the city of marble and stone now sunk into the ground, and mused on hubris and the fall of empires. It happens. History does indeed repeat itself. 

We then piled back into our land-yacht, a sleek black Mercedes van piloted by none other than Rick. It was the only automatic transmission available, so we will be avoiding any city center maze-driving. We then drove across a vibrant green landscape of rolling hills, covered with orchards (almonds? dates? Olives for sure), toward a mountain range with clouds roiling behind. We seemed to be headed into a storm, as we drove to our next destination, a puebla blanca, or white town for which this part of Andalucia is famous. We parked below the extremely picturesque town of Zahara de la Sierra, a cluster of white houses resting like a cloudbank below an old Islamic fortress. We climbed up to the small town square and visited the 17^th century church, which was backed by a cliff rising to the fort. Two lovely old women inside greeted us and sat talking the entire time we wandered the small but ornate interior. We saw a papal indulgence given to the local men’s society in the 16^thcentury. A papal indulgence! I had never seen on in person, but it was indulgences like these (basically a promise from the pope to get into heaven early, in exchange for a hunk of money) that lead to the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther, a good Catholic, had had enough with indulgences and corruption in the church, and so lead a revolution against the church, and eventually the Counter Reformation, when the Catholic church tried to reestablish its glory and authority in the splendor of the Baroque.

 We had a lovely little lunch in the only restaurant open in town, La Era, then drove on to Ronda, famous for bullfighting and Ernest Hemingway. Both Hemingway and Orson Welles loved Ronda, and spent a lot of time here – there are busts of the artists in the main park. We dropped our bags at our lovely hotel, which has a spectacular view over the valley and mountains in the distance. Because the weather is stormy and rainy, the mountains have been especially atmospheric. We wandered along the edge of the cliff to the dramatic 18^thcentury bridge that spans the 300-foot gorge between the “new” Christian town and the older Moorish town across the gap. The first bridge collapsed six years after it was built, but this one seems to have survived. We decided to brave the walk down the hill to get a view back up at the bridge, and lucked on a gorge walk that took us to the base of the bridge. It is apparently a new “tourist attraction,” and for 5 euros, we donned hard hats and walked down a stone-paved pathway for some spectacular views back up at the bridge. We were lucky, because we were the last people admitted, arriving 3 minutes before the 6:30 p.m. closure. I had worried on the way down, since it seemed so far, but the hike up was easier than I thought. It helped that Will texted halfway up, so I was able to catch my breath. 😊

We then had a lovely evening (with some mediocre food) visiting a few tapas bars, and ended up back at our hotel for a glass of complimentary champagne on the terrace. All the people inside thought we were crazy for going out in the stormy weather, but it was covered, there were propane heaters, and we are Oregonians and Philadelphians.

 Today, we are doing laundry in Ronda and then heading off to visit an other puebla blanca and further back in history, to some 6,000-year old megalithic passage tombs and dolmens. Spain really has it all, when it comes to history!