Spain Day 6 - Ronda's Cheeks

We got up early and went down the street for coffee. RRR and I had the same barista as the day before and he was quite pleased when we ordered our breakfast in Spanish. We enjoyed our cafe con leche, cafe cortado, and a baguette with jam and got ready for our day.

Mercifully, we checked out of our musty Sevilla hotel and jumped into taxis to the Santa Justa train station.

After a switch of vehicles at the train station's car rental counter, we hit the road to Ronda. It was a long road to nowhere for some time but eventually we started to see rolling hills and farmland (a lot of bicycles and motorcycles too). We took a winding bumpy gravel road to our hotel, the Hotel Molino del Arco, a pretty nice modern hotel with an equally nice pool. There was a wedding there the previous evening and the happy but tired guests were checking out as we were checking in. We dropped off our bags and headed into town.

We were starving! We wound up eating in a plaza at Bar La Farola. I ordered a plate of lomo which glistened with its garlicky goodness and RRR and I split a stew of chickpeas with pork.

The stew contained pieces of loin, a few fatty pieces along with a darker thicker piece of meat that added a lot of flavor to the dish. We found out later that it was black pork, a bit of a tasty specialty in the region.

Then we shared a sandwich with jamon, thinly sliced pork loin, tomatoes, and roasted green peppers which were very similar to the peppers that my Grandmother used to roast and jar. Delicious!

The highlight of the meal, however, had to be when Mr. RRR gleefully ordered his beloved hamburguesa. He was in for a bit of surprise though when the hamburger was literally a ham-burger! It looked pretty darn good but not what he was anticipating so he was a bit bummed and we were more than a bit amused!

After lunch we walked over to the Puente Nuevo, a really cool bridge built in 1616. It overlooks El Tajo, a gorge 360 feet deep and 210 feet across. I was getting vertigo as I came close to the edge but sucked it up and took tons of pictures. Of course at this point, we noticed all the restaurants overlooking the gorge but I think we did pretty okay with our choice!

Then it was off to La Plaza de Toros de Ronda which is actually considered the home of bullfighting (sorry Sevilla!). We walked around the sandy ring, through the museum (boy those matadors were tiny!), and even saw the (still smelly) pens. All in all, pretty cool!

We were pretty beat and the pool was calling so we grabbed our daily fix of helado and headed back to the hotel where we hung out in the cool pool and just relaxed.

At the pool they provided an "honor bar", an area where you can get as many food and drinks as you want as long as you write down what you took. We had a few tiny foamy glasses of beer and got ready for dinner. We decided to eat at the hotel since the road to the hotel was a bit treacherous and harrowing and we weren't up to navigating it at night.

I started my meal with delicious grilled vegetables topped with thinly sliced jamon. It had a great char and a touch of balsamic. Carrots, zucchini, peppers, eggplant... perfection!

What was the ultimate in perfection was Sharpie's tomato tartare; beautifully presented and super fresh - unfortunately, my blurry picture can't do it justice! Simple ingredients and just a matter of letting the vegetable's natural goodness do all the talking!

Mitch and I both followed the beef cheeks over a potato gratin with what I believed to be goat cheese. The gentleman next to us had his cheeks with mashed potatoes so perhaps he got the last order?

We enjoyed two bottles of Protos from Ribera del Duero, a big wine that went very well with the rich fork tender beef cheeks. Some of the gang was a bit bashful about ordering the beef cheeks (the name can turn one off) but agreed it was one of the better dishes we've had on our journey.

For dessert we shared two chocolate souffles that weren't as molten as I would have liked along with some sorbets. After dinner we retired to the patio where we opened a bottle of wine we picked up earlier that day in town and called it a night.

Overall, the meal was quite pleasant and a lot better than I had expected. I wasn't sure what to expect from a restaurant in a hotel at the base of a hill in the Spanish countryside but it turned out to be one of our best!

Bravo!