Excellent weather continues here in Marbella even into the middle of December, so I thought I’d make the most of it.

First stop was Estepona. Beautiful, more authentically Spanish than Puerto Banus, pretty and with some nice beaches too. Did you know it was a contender to be the location for Euro Disney? Then along a great road up to the Sugar Cube village of Casares. Wonderful scenery, but I didn’t stop as I wanted to get to Ronda for lunch time. My pal Brian has stayed in Casares and it has a pretty village centre. I can imagine it being lovely in Summer.

Ronda has a lot of history, some of it a little unpalatable. The place I point out in the video on the left is a Paradores, a Spanish state hotel. Great value. I’ve had lunch at the place on the right which has outdoor tables on the side of the gorge. There is a Bullfighting Museum too. Interesting but not for everyone. Orson Welles spent time in Ronda as did Hemingway. It has a good new town too with decent retail shopping. Was way busier than I expected for a Sunday in December.

For motorists and bikers the A397 road out of Ronda, south down to the Coast gets better and better the further you get along it. Long sweeping curves and multiple switchback hairpins, scalextric like surface, and it’s sunny and dry over 300 days a year. Only problem is it’s a long old was from the UK (1200 miles by toll road from Caen, 700+ from Santander). Unless you are on a long trip, don’t bother, you can rent a bike from the Yamaha dealer in Marbella…..

#SPAIN
#MARBELLA
#ESTAPONA
#RONDA
#A397
#CESARES
#SUN
#YAMAHA
#CRF1000
#BMW

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