Ronda, Spain, Spanish, Themes, and Everything Else

Having been brought up outside of Southern Europe I can honestly say I don't really ever remember shops, hotels, private homes, even street signs being made of of painted tile frescos, but here in Andalucia they are very common.

Take most bakeries or butchers around the pueblos blancos, they have no need for gaudy signs or flashing lights, after all everybody in the village already knows where the shop is and who the people behind the counter are.

So in keeping with the white village look and feel, many of the shops use the same style of tiled fresco that you see adorning the entrances to local churches, and the idea has caught on, a fair proportion of houses have a tiled fresco giving the name of the house or depicting Mary or one of the local saints.

Looking at a lot of the tiled frescos you'd be forgiven for thinking a student of the great painters or map-makers of olden times had drawn them, most are really quite impressive given they are hand painted onto regular wall tiles just like the type we decorate our bathrooms with.

When we first moved to Spain I needed particular subject to form the cornerstone of my photographic interest and I was going to choose these tiled frescos before realising that every second building or street corner includes one. This is why I settled for taking pictures of manhole covers. At least most towns don't have more than a handful of unique designs.

Now, for those of you interested in a bit more to do with walking the streets of one of the pueblos blanco, let me tell you that starting your walk you are only likely to see house after house after house. Entire streets are made up of buildings joined together in a continuous line that may stretch several hundred meters or more.

Most of these will look quite unremarkable and you'd be forgiven for thinking there are no shops. In fact, quite the opposite is true, a fair number will have a front living room converted into a small supermarket, butcher, bakery, or hardware store.

The only thing that gives a hint to difference between a home or a shop is the tiled fresco next to the door, because let me assure once the door is closed you can't tell.

I've just come across another webhosting company that looks promising, the other half and I own about 20 sites so we're always looking website hosting to spread our risk, but there aren't all that many that we would choose to deal with, however Ultra Website Hosting looks like one I will use for a new project.

When I look for hosting I pay attention to things like the overall look of the host's website, does it look polished, does it look like they're serious about being in business. We try to make all of our sites look appealing to visitors, it demonstrates to visitors that you care about the little things.

Choosing a host provider also means checking out their services more than their prices. I like clicking that little live chat button to see whether I'm going to be dealing with a company that has genuine support technicians on hand at the times when I'm most likely to notice a problem. Read More

Over the last week I've been making an effort to get out every day, either for a walk or a bike ride. Walking is easy, I've been doing it most of my life, and I'm reasonably adept at putting one foot in front of the other. Really steep hills like we have around here in Ronda cause the odd issue and often require stopping for a breath of air but overall I'm happy with my walking

Cycling is different. The last time I actively rode a bike was in my teenage years. Flat bits of road I'm happy to say aren't a challenge, downhill cycling isn't a problem either, in fact it's a bit of a buzz going faster than I would have down if I was driving. Disk brakes on a bike make a huge difference to your confidence.

Cycling uphill around the Serrania de Ronda though is a major challenge, did I mention we live in a very hilly environment? I've been noticing that my stomach muscles have been getting very sore, almost like cramps, and this is in addition to the legs muscles, and back muscles, and arm muscles being sore. The stomach muscles being sore concerned me the most. Read More

I mentioned in another post that we've sold our car with the plan being to use battery operated electric bicycles as our primary source of transport, well, other than public transport as well.

Anyway, my bike has arrived, it's a shiny red beast of a machine with a huge battery, powerful motor on the back wheel, disk brakes front and back, and the most annoying horn sound you've ever heard.

Friends have been warning me that riding a bike after many years of barely being able to balance on two wheels might be a mistake, but I'm sure dear reader you know by now that I never allow other people's logic to dissuade me from my mission.

The reality is that I can't drive anymore, well, I can, but my peripheral vision has shrunk considerably and I often drive too close to the edge of the road or the center line. So, rather than persevere and run the risk of causing an accident we made the decision to sell the car and get bikes. Read More

A couple of days ago I had my eyes checked again, thankfully my new optician in Ronda found that my prescription hasn't actually got worse since my last test a couple of years ago. That's great news, so now I'm thinking of getting a set of glasses to have around the house, just so that I don't have to have my contacts in all the time.

The thing is though, a set of prescription glasses is not cheap, but I've found a company online, EyeBuyDirect.com, they're based in the US, but they ship to Spain using TNT, and better than that they accept PayPal!

Eye Buy Direct have a feature on their website that is incredibly handy, once you've selected a set of glasses you wish you could try on, simply click their 'Eyetry Now' button to upload a picture of yourself to see what you look like wearing the frame of your choice.

I was impressed to see so many brands available as well, just on the front page of the designer eyeglasses page I saw Timberland, Calvin Klein, Jigsaw, Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, and, Diesel Elikonis. With this range of designers in stock, and the ability to choose your lens type, from clear, to prescription sunglasses, and tinted as well, it's easy to see why I like this site. All I need to do now is get my prescription from my optician and choose my style.

Eye Buy Direct also offer a 'No Questions Asked' refund or replace policy, and if you order before the 1st September 2008, they'll also throw in free tinting or UV coating. With glasses starting as low as $7.95 I'd recommend taking a look at their catalog.

The Ronda Tourist Office is located in Plaza de Blas Infante, which is also where the bullring is, so for the benefit of tourists who arrive by bus and who often get confused walking around Ronda, follow these instructions.

Now, most tourists who arrive at the tourist office pass the bullring to reach it, but getting here from the bus station is something that often seems to confuse people, mostly because the central bus station is at least 600m or more away. So, for the benefit of anyone who happens to visit, when you exit the bus station you'll be facing a traffic troundabout with very few meaningful signs to anywhere.

Here's what you need to do to get your bearings. First, stand directly outside the main entrance to the bus station and you'll see the aforementioned traffic roundabout ahead of you. To your left you'll see a small kiosk selling lotto tickets, and to your right you'll see a street with a pedestrian crossing, and over the crossing, a cafe with street seating. Read More

The Church of Our Lady of Mercy in Ronda, known locally as Iglesia de la Merced, and located at the top end of Calle Virgen de la Paz on Plaza de la Merced. This church is most well known for containing the Holy Relic, the Incorrupt Left Hand of St Teresa of Ávila.

Relaxing in a hot tub or spa is one of the things I love doing with a few friends, especially on those hot summer days, we tend to sit in the hot tub about an hour before sunset, the feeling of sitting back with friends sharing a laugh is just amazing.

We often make an event of sitting in the spa, we buy a couple of cheap bottles of sparkling wine, something like a Sekt or Italian sparkling rosé, and a big box of mixed chocolates, or if we're feeling particularly decadent then a punnet or two of strawberries and our little fondue kit to melt chocolate. Believe me this is a very civilised way to enjoy a hot tub.

It's amazing the recuperative effects of a hot tub, I can't explain it but I always feel so much more capable of taking on life's responsibilities after sharing the spa with close friends.

HotSpring Hot Tubs & Spas offer a full range of spas and hot tubs which would look great in any garden, they even provide an impressive range of spa shelters so you can also enjoy your hot tub or spa in the colder months.

Place a spa or hot tub on your patio or in a secluded spot in the garden, then landscape around it and you're looking at a very attractive addition to your garden, and let's not forget the capital gain on selling a property that comes from being able to offer more than just a home, but a lifestyle dream as well, although you could just as easily relocate this to your next home if you've become attached to it.