Entries about views

After a busy day yesterday, today we continued with a trip to Ronda. We did at least get a small lie in before we headed towards the bus station on the other side of the city. It was just as quick to walk, so we made our way through the Old City, through Plaza Nueva before reaching the bus station.

It was a two hour trip to Ronda, through the flat plains of the Guadalquivir Valley, before reaching the winding roads climbing into the Baetic Mountains that divide northern and southern Andalucia.

Once we reached Ronda it was clear how much difference the mountain made, cooling the temperature by around 5˚C. In hindsight the shorts weren't the best idea...

We wandered into the town, just a short walk away, passing down the main shopping street, and Plaza del Socorro before reaching Puente Nuevo, the iconic bridge spanning the famous gorge.

The bridge sits 120m above the bottom of the gorge, and we spent some time wandering around different views of the bridge, before we took a walk through the old town, crossing the gorge and walking back up through the Jardines De Cuenca.

After enjoying the views of the bridge across the gorge, we made our way back up to Plaza España, before heading over to the bullring where we took a look around to understand more about this historic tradition.

This bullring has existed for almost 250 years. Whilst not on the same scale as some of the huge ones in the bigger cities, it was still in very much the same style. The Ronda School of Cavalry, the oldest in Spain, still has stables and a riding school next to the bullring which we could also view.

After some time taking in the culture, we went and grabbed an early dinner, with views over the area. Ronda sits atop a plateau, and before heading back to the bus station, we went for a walk around some of the footpaths on the cliff edge.

The coach station was pretty busy, with many of the day trippers on holiday excursions boarding their coaches back towards the coast. Unlike the one we arrived on, our coach made a few stops at some of the villages en route, which were actually quite pretty.

Once we arrived back in Seville, we then had a walk back through the city. We walked a different route than the one we made this morning, stopping at the Setas de Sevilla, a wooden structure somewhat resembling mushrooms.

In the basement of the structure are Roman and Moorish remains, which could be seen through the glass windows by the entrance. There is the ability to walk along the roof of the structure, but as it was a combined entry with an exhibition and entry to the ruins, we gave it a miss - it had been a busy enough day so far as it was.

We then made our way back to the hotel for our last night. Enjoying a bit more time up at the roof bar, before getting our stuff together before tomorrow's early start.

With a late afternoon flight, our trip over to Cordoba was both quick and early. We got up and went down for breakfast before checking out, dropping our bags in the luggage storage, and then made it to the station for the 8:43 high speed train.

I normally wouldn't pay extra for expensive high speed trains, but as we were pushed for time we went for it. In fact we got quite a posh journey in luxury seats for the 45 minute journey.

Cordoba normally has the highest average temperatures in both Spain and the whole of Europe. But today was a pretty cloudy day with constant threats of rainfall, reaching the dizzy heights of... 23˚C!

We left the station and then headed over to the icon of the city, the Cathedral. It was originally built as a mosque in 785AD, and was progressively expanded over time before being converted to a cathedral in 1236 after the Reconquista. It therefore is an excellent example of Moorish architecture embodied by the beautiful arches.

We pre-booked our tickets, which were for entry at opening time - 10am. A mass was just finishing as we were allowed in, so we got to witness that, as well as a relatively quiet and peaceful atmosphere.

After taking a look around, we left the complex and went for a walk around the riverside behind, and then along the beautiful Roman Bridge, looking back on views over the cathedral and cityscape.

We then made our way back towards the station, via the Jewish Quarter and leaving the old town through the Almodóvar Gate.

As we walked along the lush boulevard back to the station I received an email from Renfe, the Spanish Railways, to advise me of a delay to our train. We initially had 3 hours from our arrival back in Seville before our flight was due to leave. But as time went on, the train was progressively further delayed, before it eventually arrived in Cordoba almost an hour late.

By the time we got back to Seville, it meant we had to do a mad dash back to the hotel to collect our luggage, before returning and catching the airport bus. Thankfully our delay wasn't enough to cause any problems, and the worst thing about our arrival at the airport was the huge rainstorm that had just started. Having threatened all week, it finally rained. And it pretty much continued the whole time we were in the airport. Our flight was ultimately delayed because of the threat from lightning preventing take off.

For the first time ever, I boarded a Ryanair flight through a jet bridge! Together with the shelter at the airport bus stop, and having carried our raincoats with us everywhere, it meant we didn't actually end up getting wet.

As we flew back home, the whole of Spain was pretty grey, hidden behind the clouds, but not far beyond the French border the clouds cleared and there were beautiful blue skies for the whole of Northern Europe - bizarre!

It had been a very busy few days, and in hindsight probably a bit much. But it had been a lovely trip and interesting to see some of Spain's culture rather than just the beaches!

Flying out on Friday evening, we boarded our plane to find that as one of our fellow travellers was on a surprise birthday trip - our destination was never being mentioned. Thankfully after the two hour flight we had arrived in the correct city where it was now getting dark and so we headed to our hotel in Nice for a well earned sleep after a long day.

After breakfast at the hotel, our Saturday was reserved entirely for Monaco. After getting some help from a local buying our tickets, we took the short train ride along the beautiful coast to the second smallest country in the world.

The train station was built entirely within the hill at the very top of the country, immediately adjacent to the French border, with the train station being part of the French network. In fact there was very little existence of the border at all, and we only managed to get passport stamps by visiting the tourist information centre - although these were at least free unlike in San Marino...

Eventually finding the exit we wanted, we made our way down the hill to the port at the bottom, before walking towards Monaco Ville, and back up a hill to the Royal Palace complex.

After stopping for views of the harbour we carried on up the hill to the Palace, before walking around the old streets buying souvenirs and taking photos of the pretty views. It was then time for the Changing of the Guard to take place.

After watching the parade we then headed back down towards the harbour to take a look at the huge boats that had come in to moor.

The next place on our trip was Monte Carlo, and we headed back up another hill, walking around the back of the casino towards the hairpin, one of the most iconic parts of the Monaco Grand Prix circuit.

After walking past the tunnel, another famous feature of the course, we stopped for food before walking along the coast towards the beach.

The beach was much softer than those on this coast, being made of very small pebbles, and after putting our feet in the warm beautiful water, we had a rest before continuing on our journey.

Eventually making it to the end of the coast we briefly crossed back into France before coming back and visiting the Monte Carlo Bay Casino. However as they only had gambling machines, we left without having actually spent any money and headed back along the road to the Casino. After taking photos of the front of the casino we then headed back towards the station to return to Nice.

On our trip over to Monaco we had considered stopping in one of the bays en route, however being so tired after a long walk in the heat around Monaco we decided to head straight back to the hotel for a rest.

In the evening we headed out for dinner, ending up again in an Italian (as with Paris), where my dinner turned up in what looked like a sick bowl!

We then sat on the beach to watch the sunset before a nighttime exploration of the promenade and city centre, which we had rushed through the previous evening and thus not had the time to take in.

On Sunday we checked out of the hotel and headed down into the city centre to view it by day. Starting in the main square, we then headed through the Old City passing quaint little shops and a market.

We then headed up the castle hill, which once there appeared to be far more exciting than we thought - a refreshing waterfall and a plaza with views over the port as well as city.

By this point we were starting to run low on time, and so we quickly headed down and had a chill on the rocky beach before walking back along some of the promenade.

After a last wander around the city, we returned to the hotel to grab our bits before making our way to the airport for our flight home.

Having expected Nice to be a bit shabby, it turned out to be a lot nicer than expected. Very well kept, with beautiful views, and a lot more on offer than expected. Monaco meanwhile was exactly as we expected - rich and luxurious. An interesting trip!