highlights from Spain day 5

Day 5 in Spain consisted of a tour of three white villages up in the mountains - the road to Ronda, as we called it.  Maddie stayed home sick which was a very good thing.  You see, in 2003 we took a family vacation to Hawai'i (the vacation from hell as everyone got the flu!) and did the Road to Hana - a very beautiful, albeit curvy road along the coast that was not pleasant for anyone.  Day 5's Road to Ronda was also very curvy but in the mountains, with scary switchbacks, drop offs and plenty of watch for falling rocks signs.  A nearly identical road trip but no one got sick this time.

Nic and I began the morning walking along the beach 'shopping' for some souvenirs for Jackson.


Our first stop was in the village of Casares.  A beautiful view and an amazing village.  It began raining on the way up though, so this was just a quick stop.









Grandma and Grandpa got out of the car for a quick photo opp, but once they saw the stairs leading down into the center of town, promptly decided to wait for us in the car.  Mom and Roger quickly followed suit, leaving Nic and I to do a quick tour of the town ourselves.





A church in the main part of town.  All the side streets leading further into the village were blocked to tourists, so we turned back and headed to the car.



The rain and clouds kept getting worse as we drove further into the mountain range.



Our next stop was in the town of Gaucin. Just quick enough for an espresso and a local treat before we got back in the car.







Our road trip - see Casares down towards the bottom, and then the very curvy road heading to Gaucin?  Ronda in in the upper right corner.



There were many photo opportunities along the way.  Nic is totally his mother's son and pulled into a handful to check out the views.  And, why is the stop sign a "stop" sign and not a "stop written in Spanish" sign?



We were all pleased to pull into Ronda, our longest stop on the "Road to Ronda" tour, and the skies were finally beginning to clear so walking around the beautiful town was doable.











One thing Ronda is known for is this bridge - the deepest (?) in the world.







After a few hours of taking in the sites and shopping, we grabbed a few beers and tapas.







The trip back down the mountain was freaky and I am sure Nic got quite sick of me telling him to go slower, do you see that turn ahead?, oh my gosh I am going to vomit...  But as always, he did an amazing job and got us all home safely.