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!

Spain Day 5 - Sevilla, Sevilla, Sevilla!

RRR and I headed out for a jog along the river. It was quite pleasant (although the eating and drinking is already taking its toll) and on the way back we ran through a beautiful park and shockingly saw a few packs of runners which has been a rarity for us on past European vacations.

We headed out to the Real Alcazar, a palace where you could get lost for hours, and we actually did! We lost Mitch and Sharpie for awhile while they wandered off to the gardens and we meandered through the Alcazar's many rooms. Eventually we met up outside and watched as a parade of brides and grooms went into the Alcazar for wedding photos.

And no stop is complete without a church visit for Ms. Foodie, so we went to the Catedral de Sevilla, a beautiful old church very reminiscent of Notre Dame. There is a sepulchre that is believed to hold the remains of Christopher Columbus. We also walked up over thirty ramps to reach the top of the Giralda Bell Tower and took some great scenic pictures of the beautiful city.

After our descent, we wandered for some time in our usual hunt for the best possible option for lunch and wound up at Restaurante La Cueva in the Barrio Santa Cruz.

Mitch and Sharpie had a nice gazpacho with a little more kick and cucumbers than the previous gazpacho's and we ordered our first mixed paella.

The rice was swollen with the broth and saffron of the dish and there were bits of calamari, baby clams, large butter beans, large juicy mussels (w/barnacles intact), pork, beef and prawns with the heads on.

The prawns proved to be a bit more work than anything and the shell to shrimp meat ratio wasn't nearly what you would think it would be after all that peeling! And let's not talk about my saffron-stained fingers! I was surprised how juicy the mussels were - normally mussels that large would be more chewy and flavorless than anything. Overall, it was quite good and I kept digging into the large pan for more paella treasures well after I was satisfied.

I followed up this lovely lunch with some menta helado (that's my fancy way of saying mint ice cream) from a place down the street from the restaurant and after a futile attempt to see the inside of Sevilla's famed bullring, RRR and I went back to the hotel for a siesta.

We ventured out for dinner and after our usual aimless walking and debate we wound up back at the Barrio Santa Cruz and sat down for dinner at El 3 de Oro. Our waiter was quite friendly and we started our meal with some aged manchego, green olives and caper berries, and bacalo frito (cod fritters). I particularly enjoyed the cod; it was light, crispy and clean and came with a salsa of sorts (tomato, onion, pepper and octopus in a bit of oil) which was a nice compliment to the meaty fish.

Sharpie, Mike and I split a rice dish with Iberian pork. It was more of a stew and was heavy on the saffron and (I believe) cumin. The pork was quite tender and we didn't stop until we reached the bottom of the bowl!

NOTE: I believe this dish (pictured on right) was from this meal but for the life of me I can't remember for the life of me who ordered this and what it was! Maybe of one my travel companions can comment below.

We finished off with some churros dipped in a cup of hot chocolate. The chocolate wasn't rich enough and the churros didn't have much to offer in the way of flavor but of course that didn't stop me from dipping away.

We attempted to see some flamenco post-dinner but we were a bit too tired and a bit too late to get our money's worth so we headed off to bed since it is up early tomorrow to hit the road to Ronda!

Spain Day 4 - Perdidos!

We woke up early and had breakfast at our hotel; a mix of meats, breads, cheeses, cereal, a tasty potato and egg omlette, juice and cafe con leche.

After breakfast we headed out and were the first in line to visit the Alcazar - past experiences have made us paranoid about missing our train to Sevilla and we didn't want to miss it!

The Alcazar was quite beautiful and as most people know, said to be the inspiration for Walt Disney's design of Disneyland. We marveled at the amazing views from the Alcazar, the teeny tiny suits of armour on display, snapped a bunch of photos and then hit the road.

We packed up the car and began our stressful drive to the Madrid airport to return our rental car. After a brief stop to get a few last photos of Segovia's aqueducts we took an accidental twenty minute detour through the super narrow streets of Segovia but eventually found the highway.

We returned the car and took a taxi to Atocha train station with plenty of time to spare. The interesting thing (besides the history of the station) was the ode to Fox's "Lost" aka "Perdidos!" - very cool!

We picked up a few sandwiches at the station (along with a cheap not so great Malhou beer for me) and finally boarded the AVE to Sevilla.

After one teary-eyed viewing of "Dreamgirls" (in Spanish mind you) our train pulled into the Sevilla station. We piled into two taxis and checked into the Hotel Simon, a tired, quirky hotel that was unfortunately a bit too musty for me and fellow asthmatic Sharpie. The RRR's swapped rooms with us and all was well!

After some aimless wandering in the shopping district, we cleaned up and headed to the Barrio Santa Cruz for some tapas. First stop was Las Sacrista where we enjoyed two pithcers of sangria, some calamari frito, shrimp and garlic, steak with sherry and pine nuts and raisins and a jamon sandwich.

And because that wasn't quite enough to satisfy our tapas jones, we went a few doors down to Bar Belmonte and had albondigas (aka meatballs) and a seafood salad with shrimp, pollock and tomatoes.

The salad was quite refreshing and palate cleansing after the saltiness of the meatballs in their rich saffron sauce.

I wasn't expecting much from the seafood since it appeared to be something you might pick up at your local supermarket salad bar so imagine my surprise when I found a mouthful of fresh vinegary seafood instead!

Finally, we stopped where it was a bit touristy but we ordered even more shrimp and garlic, stuffed eggplant, vegetable hash and ham croquettes.

Everything was good but nothing was super memorable; making me question whether or not we've had "true tapas" on our evening's tapas crawl.

Of course with a full day of travel under our belts, we headed off to bed just as the locals were beginning their evening...