RONDA: CITYSCAPES AND LANDSCAPES

As I mentioned in a previous post, Ronda sits on two hilltops that are separated by a dramatic 400-foot deep gorge.  This geography makes for dramatic photo opportunities.  First, here is a shot, taken from the east hilltop, of our parador, situated on the west hilltop (and just next to the "new bridge" spanning the gorge).  The parador, which was the city's original town hall, is the building in the upper right of the image with the arches.

And here is a view out the window of our room, looking south toward a pavilion overlooking the gorge.

And following, in turn, are a couple of views from that pavilion of the south side of the gorge.

In this last shot I wanted to place the building (a small inn, perhaps) in the lower corner of the image and wanted to make sure I retained the lane leading toward the upper right of the image.

Like nearly all of the towns in Andalusia, a large preponderance of the buildings were painted white, to reflect the hot summer sun.  And that is evident in the following shots.

I liked these shots for their interplay of white walls and red tiled roofs.

Finally, I had seen a line of umbrella pines on the crest of one of the hills to the south of Ronda but they were difficult to distinguish from the background behind them.  However, on our second day an afternoon haze had developed which served to separate the line of trees from the background, and I snapped the following shot, which worked well, I thought.

John