Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Ronda, Spain

Ronda is in the province of Malaga and is a town in the Spanish mountains. On a cliffside to be precise.

You'll see it in the photos, but the town is perched rather precariously on the edge of a steep canyon.

It is a truly beautiful place. Ernest Hemingway lived here for a while and part of his book For Whom the Bell Tolls takes place in Ronda.

roomie Marina :) 

One of the other things that Ronda is well known for is their bullfighting. This is the interior of the ring (^) 
We talked extensively about bull fighting before we left for this Academic Travel. I actually gave a presentation about it, which resulted in me watching hours of bullfighting footage on YouTube beforehand. I learned a lot and our class had a very heated discussion about the ethics of bull fighting after the presentation. One of the most interesting points brought up was that a large group of muslim students were extremely anti-bull fighting but pro-halal killing of animals, which some animal rights groups say is inhumane. I don't think it has to be a battle of ethics, but we had a really interesting discussion! 
Then, while in Ronda, our tour guide who was at least 70 years old, spoke so passionately about the beauty and honor of bull fighting that he started crying. And while I am not pro- bull fighting it certainly gave me a new appreciation for how deeply connected some Spaniards feel to bull fighting culture. 
More on this topic to come in the next post! 
Mas churros con chocolate! Although these churros were honestly disappointing compared to the amazing ones I had in Sevilla. These were were too crunchy. Chocolate was A++ though. melted liquid gold. 

so fierce 

two more photos from seville, oops.

And on to more posts of Southern Spain! 'Cause this trip was rockin'

xx

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