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Exploring Andalusia
Southern spain offers many treasures of spanish culture
August 04, 2006

Ronda
We arrived in Ronda in the late afternoon, and the town took our breath away. Ronda sits on both sides of a 100m-deep gorge. An 18th century bridge over the gorge joins the old and new sides of the town.

A few blocks from the bridge lies one of the oldest bullrings in Spain. Ronda is the birthplace of modern bullfighting. The interesting museum next to the ring displays beautiful costumes and other memorabilia of famous bullfighters. Bullfights take place here occasionally and are very popular. But we were not sorry to miss that spectacle.

Next we crossed the bridge into the old part of town. We found the stairway that leads to the down the 365-step, zigzag stairway because we’d have to climb back up, as well! Instead, we visited a 15th century church and enjoyed its cool, quiet interior and beautiful carvings.

At dinner we enjoyed a fine gazpacho, a cold soup of blended tomatoes, peppers, onions and garlic. We also sampled Spain’s famous jamon serrano, a delicious ham cured for at least a year.

Word Bank
Take someone’s breath away (idiom) （美得）让某人屏息；让某人心醉神驰
The view was so beautiful it took my breath away.

Gorge (n) 峡谷
We looked down into the gorge and saw a river far below us.

Zigzag (adj) 之字形的；锯齿状的
Driving down the zigzag road wasn’t easy. There were too many sharp turns.

Carving (n) 雕刻
The old carving of people and animals inside the cave were beautiful.

More information
Memorabilia(n) 纪念物品
This museum has uniforms,bats and other memorabilia of famous baseball players.

Cure(v) 腌制
My grandma cures meat in her basement for several months before bringing it out to eat.