Day 10 – Zahara, Grazalema, and Ronda, Spain

Today we woke up early, got ready, and set off for breakfast. I got this delicious waffle drizzled with chocolate and M&Ms, but the M&Ms didn’t have the classic “M”s – there are no “M”s anywhere on any M&Ms in Spain!

We met up to take a tour and bumped into a family we sat with during the Flamenco show last night. The son is really good at Rubik’s cubes. I sat next to him on the bus ride, and we talked about life in the United States and Australia and how they were different and the same. (Burger King is called “Tasty Jackson’s” there!)

Our first stop was Zahara, where we learned about olive oil factories. The tour guide told us how they process olive oil, then we got to try some with bread. I thought it was disgusting, but my moms loved it.

After the olive oil factory, we explored the town for about a half hour. I climbed a big, spirally staircase, which was so beautiful at the top. We got ice cream and snacks before we got back on the bus.

The next town we visited was Grazalema. We had a short tour and saw the old Roman road that goes to Seville and some churches. Then we had lunch. I ate pasta that had meat and cheese and some special sauce that was so delicious. After lunch, we explored the town some more.

We rode for about 40 minutes to the next town, Ronda, which had a huge bridge called the Puente Nuevo. I was amazed by the view – you could see rocky mountains and the deep gorge below the bridge where people were swimming.

After we crossed the bridge, we got gelato again – this time, I had Chips Ahoy and Mint Chocolate Chip. We shopped and then walked through beautiful gardens. The paths were made from little rocks that were formed into designs. Some of them were grey, some of them tan, and some of them were dark black.

The ride back to Seville took about two hours. When we got off at our stop, we went to the grocery store, and then Mama made us pesto pasta for dinner, and I had yogurt with honey for dessert.

I feel so awake even though it’s 9:30pm because the sun is still out! Even though I don’t want to go to sleep, the moms say I have to go to bed!

– Evan