Road trip - La Linea de la Concepcion

 So the road to Gibraltar was another twisty road with hairpin turns and switch back and lots of up and down the mountains- and it inclued a road closure we couldn't get around. No other route (rolling eye emoji here)

In a way it served us quite well- as we ended up backtracking a bit to go to another roadhouse for a meal, while we waited to see what happened.  There we found out the road would reopen in roughly 30 minutes. It was closed for a Sunday morning bike race. Meanwhile, we got to have a fabulous home cooked meal at a family run inn.  

Here is my FB post of the trip-

Left Ronda this morning and headed through the mountains to the south and ultimately La Linea de Concepcion (the border town in Spain with Gibraltar.) The trip was somewhat disrupted by several road closures but we eventually arrived late afternoon into town. On the way (while we were waiting for the road to reopen after a bike race from the morning) we stopped at another roadhouse for lunch. We had a terrific platter of pretty much everything they had on offer. Excellent cerdo and chorizo especially good, of the abundance of food. We also sampled a tapa of the "Jabalí" (wild boar) which Phil liked very much but I found a tad gamey for my taste. The service was as wonderful as could be. A family run Inn, Mom in the front, Dad in the kitchen, daughter serving the food.  Really great (if accidental) choice.

We finally arrived in La Linea as the sun was low in the sky. Tim and Jean opted to skip dinner as Jean had some bad news from the States of a friend's passing. Understandably she wans't up to socializing. 

Phil and I went out for a Uruguayan parillada meal. Empanadas, proveleta, berenjenas, as starters and skirt steak and milanese (veal) for mains and a terrific panqueque with dulce de leche for our postre. at Parillada El Uruguayo on Calle Sol in La linea. 

We got a good night's sleep and were ready for our trip to another country toorrow- across the border to Gibraltar - the Rock! Here is a brief video of a few seonds of the drive down the moutnains to the sea to the border town at The Rock...

Next up our day in Gibraltar...

Road trip - Ronda

 So Jean & Tim arrived back in town late on Thursday night. Then Friday they went out to explore the city and we had Leslie. We met up for coffee  and a light lunch at Santa Gloria. Dnner that night was at Islamorada where they have the amazing tortilla trufada (Spanish omelette with truffle). The guys had the big shrimp and avocado dish. We drank a large pitcher of cava sangria. MITO on the way home (the one in Postigo not our regular) then walked back via Guichot to drop Tim off at his hotel. An easy evening with only a bit of drama when a full glass of sangria broke at the bottom of the bowl and flooded Jean's side of the table with wine. Luckily it was white not red.

The next day we were off on a road trip adventure to Ronda and Gibraltar. We stopped at a roadhouse on the road to Ronda for lunch. We had a simple meal: chicken for Phil, eggs for Jean, a burger for Tim and I had "albondigas" (meatballs.) there were literally more than a hundred people here for Saturday lunch. Some in a large dining room and some in the garden and we ate in a small dining room off the bar with a fireplace. Very atmospheric if not gourmet.

Then on to Ronda and Palacio Hemingway our hotel for the night.  Our short trip out of Sevilla this weekend started with a night in Ronda. It has an absolutely spectacular setting on the top of the mountain. The old town and new town are joined by a bridge over a steep ravine with a stream that runs through it. We went out in the very late afternoon to take a walk aorund town.

Below the hotel - which was less than a block off the birdge and in the oldest part of the city 

The bridge over the ravine and some views into the valley below- 

view of old town from the bridge-

the countryside from the bridge-

The new town, seen from the bridge with the afternoon shadow of the bridge projected onto the cliffside.

We walked to the bullring - one of the oldest in Spain and a favorite of Hemingway's 

 

a nearby park overlooking the countryside below-

We also stopped for coffee and churros at an excellent place right on Plaza Espagna. They had a choice of sauces I went for a delicious dulce de leche and Phil had the nutella 

Later we met up with Tim & Jean and made the short walk to dinner. We had virtually all the food as Tim skipped dinner and just had wine.  And Jean only had the EXCELLENT canelloni. Phil and I shared the tartar with the bone marrow. Then he had the giant lamb dish and I had the pastrami sandwich. 

The next morning we were off to La Linea, the border town by Gibraltar.