Seville and the White Hill Towns

Mark surprised me when he agreed to drive through the white hill towns to Seville. Driving in foreign countries is something he avoids, like jumping out of airplanes. But he knew how much I wanted to see those whitewashed villages perched on hilltops and spilling down hillsides, especially when I learned they were strategically defensive in the Muslim-Christian conflicts over the centuries. Ronda was our first stop, and our lunch with that spectacular view made me wish we had carved out more time for hiking down the gorge. I can see why Hemingway called Ronda the most romantic town in the country. Touring the bullring, the oldest in Spain, brought to mind Hemingway and his descriptions of bullfights, which are considered cultural events, not sports entertainment. Either way, I have no stomach for cruelty to these animals, beautiful pageantry or not. Arcos de la Frontera was the other white hill town we chose to see, and there we hiked its steep and narrow cobblestone streets sliced between white walls. The birds of prey were an oddity we had to capture, along with the small picturesque El Convento Hotel with its terrace overlooking the countryside. With more time, this would have been the spot for winding down, but onward to Seville… The paseo, that wonderful custom of strolling in the evening, was a sight to savor: the beautiful tree-lined streets with handsome Spanish people. As in Barcelona, we sought out colorful, bustling tapas bars. Barrio Santa Cruz, where our hotel was located, was great for that, but so were so many other areas of the city. It was here that we found the difference between typical tapas fare and the more fresh and inventive, but still inexpensive, kind. Our dinner at Gusto was the most memorable: the Rioja wine there and the creative vegetarian dishes that I wish I could emulate. Sights that I don’t want to forget include the gorgeous Cathedral, the horse-drawn carriages (polished and going at a fast clip), the street musicians everywhere, and the cosmopolitan humanity.