Day 18 and 19 Don Benito to Merida

  

Day 18                   Don Benito to San Pedro de Merida       30 kms

morning light on the Medillin Roman Bridge

Today we walked through the village of Medillin. This is where another Spanish Conquistador, Hernando Cortes, was born. Cortes overthrew the Aztec empire in 1521 and won Mexico for the crown of Spain. This area sure bred a lot of tough men, but I think you have to be tough to live here. This area of Spain is called Extramedura  (Hard extremes) for a reason. It is extremely hot in summer and bitterly cold in winter. 

Last night we went out for our usual evening tapas in the Plaza de España (every village has a plaza de España) and watched the communion festivities. June is the month of weddings and communions and the priests are extremely busy. We watched as the parents and their children paraded around the plaza in all their finery. We chatted with a few other watchers and they mentioned that some parents spend as much on a communion as they do on a wedding. I can believe it…. All the little girls looked like they were in bridal dresses.

The other thing we noticed is that no one (except for a few older men) drinks to excess. Yes, they drink at lunch and dinner, but they will have one glass of wine or beer and nurture it. I remember when we lived in Spain and Max (our oldest son) was a teenager, used to stay out until 2 or 3 am. I never worried about him because Spain lives at night and to be drunk in Spain is a social taboo. Spain is actually a great place to bring up a teenager. They love to have fun but you don’t see the binge drinking epidemic here.

Day 19       SanPedro de Merida to Merida      17kms

San Pedro de Merida is nothing but a truck stop 15kms out of Merida. We wanted to stay here so that we could be fresh and walk into Merida in the morning.  What a beautiful city it is !! It is going to be hard to have a rest day here. The origins of Merida have been dated back to 25 years BC when Emperor Octavio Augusto ordered the construction of the city to house retired soldiers.(The lucky ones to survive the perils of war) Much of modern Merida is built on Roman foundations and many of the important buildings have been uncovered and preserved. Some of our favourites are;

The Roman Theatre
This is the jewel of Merida's Roman heritage. It was built in 15 B.C, just ten years after the city was started and 6,000 people could be seated in the theatre.

 

The Roman Amphitheatre
Located next to the theatre is the amphitheatre where gladiator and animal shows would take place, with its oval floor plan it could house up to 14,000 spectators.

 

The Roman Bridge

It is the longest surviving bridge from the Roman era, the structure totals 790 m.

 We also visited the Museum of Roman artifacts. If ever you are in Merida, it is so worth a visit. Well worth the 3 euro entrance fee.

The museum also housed some mosaics which covered the entire floor of a house. The amount of detail and the years of work that went into these is hard to comprehend.

detail of the tapestry, notice every individual rock