Now we only have two days left in Spain, so instead of spending half a day on the train to go back to Seville, we hired a driver through Daytrip so we could see a few more sights along the way.
This was a bit of a splurge, but so worth it! Our driver Richard picked us up at our hotel promptly, loaded our luggage in his very comfortable Audi A6, and off we went.
Our original plan was to visit a donkey sanctuary and then go spend a couple of hours in Ronda before arriving in Seville. We were stoked to see the donkeys, but upon arrival discovered it was closed for maintenance. Our driver was as bummed as we were but came up with an alternate excursion that turned out to be remarkable.
Setenil de las Bodegas
This little town of 3000ish residents is built under, and into, a gigantic rock. Really! And it has a unique history. According to archeologists, the caves have provided people with homes for more than 25,000 years. That’s quite a timeline! Another cool fact is the name Sentenil, which is roughly translated to seven times nothing. According to local legend, the Moorish settlers defended the town against seven sieges during the Reconquista of Spain before finally losing the town to the Christian invaders in 1484.
It doesn’t take long to explore, and it is an excellent spot to pick up local cheese, wine, and olive oil.
Ronda
Glorious Ronda is a must-see when traveling in Andalusia! You can see for miles from the many vantage points around town. The famous bridge crossing the gorge that splits the town is worth a stop alone. It is fairly new, completed during the 1700s, and truly a site to behold.
Ronda was originally settled by the Celts in the 6th century BC and was later occupied by Romans and held by the Visigoths until it was conquered by the Moors in 713.
The Moors held the site until 1485, when the Marquis of Cadiz laid siege and ultimately took the town for the Christian conquerors.
Ronda’s primary claim to fame is bullfighting. The town is considered to be the birthplace of modern bullfighting and boasts the first, and largest, stone bullring in the country. Here I want to interject that I think bullfighting is a terrible, cruel sport, which I do not support. But Spain and bullfighting go together, so I feel I should mention it. The arena is huge and even has royal boxes for the monarchs so they didn’t have to rub shoulders with the other 5000 people the arena holds.
Much to our relief, some areas in Spain (such as Catalonia) have banned the sport, and even in Ronda, the bullfighting is limited to one festival held annually in September. We were told by several locals that these bullfights are “bloodless”, but sadly, I haven’t been able to verify the information.
Our time in Ronda complete, we text our driver, load ourselves into the car, and head for Seville.
Barrio Santa Cruz
Our final stay in Spain was the lovely Hotel Adriano, and it did not disappoint. It’s a boutique hotel nestled in the heart of Barrio Santa Cruz, just a short walk to the magnificent Catedral de Seville, which I referenced in a previous post.
Since we were tired, yet still wanted to see more of the city, we opted out of a siesta and decided on a carriage ride instead. This proved to be a great opportunity to relax, enjoy the 80-degree weather, and see more of the city.
Our driver proved to be a bit competitive and insisted on racing the other carriages, so were really happy that the horse was not interested in moving faster than a slow trot. It was a great opportunity to see the Plaza de Espana and spend more time in the glorious Maria Louisa Park.
After our carriage ride, we strolled around the Cathedral a bit more then headed back toward the hotel to get ready for dinner.
Since we were still pretty tired from our long day, we decided to have dinner outdoors at the café in the hotel, and again, it did not disappoint. We both decided on Paella, Natalie choosing chicken while I opted for the seafood variety. Both were delicious, even though mine was garnished with shrimp staring accusingly at me. After dinner we called it a night and got comfy in our room so we would be fresh and ready for our last day in Spain.
After breakfast we headed out to find the Setas de Sevilla. Touted to be the largest wooden structure in the world, the installment consists of six interconnected mushroom-esque shapes that supposedly take their inspiration from both Ficus trees and the vaults under the cathedral. It’s very cool and one of Seville’s more recent must-see landmarks.
We shopped our way back toward the hotel, enjoying the fun stores and the perfect weather.
We decided that we should really spend some time getting our suitcases ready for our early trip to the airport, so we packed, repacked, then packed again until everything was organized and ready. Then we wandered.
We had seen everything on our “must-see” list, we were packed, so we just set out to wander the neighborhood, eat, drink, and relax until we were ready to call it a day.
We were both having mixed emotions. It was such an amazing trip, made even more so by the company and our easy relationship, that we didn’t want it to end. But on the other hand, we were both missing our loved ones, our own homes, and dare I say, “real” life.
We are already planning our next adventure. Will it be London, Greece, or an African safari? Where do you think we should go?