I live in a very urban environment, so part of the enjoyment of coming to a place like the Costa del Sol is experiencing smaller town life. And the history of course. Things that are “new” here were built before anything in my neighborhood was constructed.
The coast is protected by the Sierra Nevada mountain range, which is what gives the coast it’s temperate micro-climate. If you head up into those mountains, you’ll find the most lovely old villages that have existed in one form or another for a thousand years or more.
Ronda
Ronda is about an hour north of Marbella, straight up the mountain. Well, not straight. Extremely curvy actually. But anyway, an easy drive. It was founded by the Celts and then conquered over the following thousand years by the Phoenicians, Visigoths, Romans, Arabs, and finally Spanish. I’ve probably missed a conquerer in there but you get the idea.
The village itself is just lovely and picturesque, overlooking farmland and the surrounding mountains.
It also was the place where “modern” bullfighting was started. That’s the style that’s all about pageantry–apparently how it’s done everywhere now; I wouldn’t know, I couldn’t bear to watch.
And there’s a “new” bridge. It’s incredible–the town is built on two sides of a gorge and this monster bridge connects the town. And it was built in the 1700s. So, you know, new.
Of course we stopped for tapas. A plate of the mixed tapas for 10 euros, sitting by a park, watching kids get out of school and play soccer together. Heaven.
Mijas
Mijas is very close to the coast, an easy 15 minute drive up into the hills. It’s a charming town with all white buildings all adorned with red flowers. I wonder who’s job it is to keep them up?
We stopped here for lunch at a place called Oscar’s.
It has a great view overlooking the water…
…and I tried a cod fish stew that was spectacular: cod, carrots, peas, maybe potatoes, all simmered in a saffron tomato base. Probably with some cream in there too. And Jamon croquettes. Seriously, can’t eat a tater tot again after tasting croquettes. It’s like deep fried mashed potato heaven.
And our waiter recommended a shop for us to buy wine. Siesta was just ending, so we were there when they opened and all of the kids were coming out into the streets to play while moms and dads went off to work.
One of the things I’ve realized about where I live in Baltimore city, is that each neighborhood is essentially a village that have just grown more and more and more interconnected over time. We have our neighborhood square with a weekend market, we see neighbors around town, at the local watering hole, the kids play together in the park after school. I guess city living isn’t so different from village living afterall. Well except for all of that “new” stuff.
