Today would have been my Dad’s 91st Birthday… I still miss him so much even though he passed away a year and a half ago. Grief is a funny thing really – I guess you don’t really know how it will affect you until you experience it. To be honest, I try not to think of my Dad too much as I tend to get upset when I do… he might not have been perfect but I spent so much time with him that it still leaves a big gap in my life. Also, what with Mum’s dementia, it wasn’t the old age that he had imagined for himself and he was upset and cross with the way things had turned out. I know that having family around him made a big difference and things a little easier to cope with but I wish life could have been different for him at the end! Anyway, as a lot of people do on social media etc, I am going to wish him a happy birthday wherever he might be and hope that his having a great time and a dram or two to celebrate 😊 At the same time, we’d like to wish Harry Willsher a very happy birthday too – we look forward to seeing you soon!
A lot has happened over the past few days as we left the mountains on Saturday 12th October to travel up country to a place called Calamonte which is just outside Mérida which is in the Extremadura part of Spain – not somewhere either of us has been before so new experiences to be had! But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves…
Friday 11th October (Friday) marked our last day in Cortes de la Frontera and the Mountains… we had rain forecast and the day did not disappoint – it rained in the morning but, fortunately, by the time it came to packing up the car in the evening, the rain had cleared.
As expected, we spent the morning getting all our stuff together and the afternoon having a little walk around Cortes so that I could try and capture the remaining wall-art… we didn’t manage to find them all (apparently, they are working on guide for these locally but it’s not in place yet) but here’s what we got:
Wall art in Cortes de la Frontera
Wall Art in Cortes de la Frontera
Wall Art in Cortes de la Frontera – of course there had to be one of the vultures!
So, Saturday 12th October, about 10.30am we left our accommodation for the last time and started our journey northwards. Just outside of Montejacque (which is above Benaoján) we happened on a strange rock formation and dam where there was a viewing area so, having a bit of time to spare on our journey (we were not able to check into the new place until “after 4pm”) we decided to take a look around… this might be something for next time as there is apparently a huge cave here that you can take a look around… Cueva Del Hundidero. Anyway, we enjoyed looking at the dam and it gave us a chance to take a few last pics of the vultures!
Stopping along the way at Montejacque Dam…
As for the rest of the drive… it was a pretty interesting journey made more so because of some very stormy weather… I’ve never seen forked lightening like it! Striking the fields & hills on either side of the car! Never experienced torrential rain like it either! The windscreen wipers were struggling to keep up with the amount of rain that fell at some points – it was a right proper deluge! So much so, I even had to put the fog lights on a few times!
Here’s the journey we took…
Mérida, Spain – 340 km
We stopped for some lunch / dinner around 2ish… just north of Seville and, to be honest, both wished we hadn’t bothered as it’s probably the worst meal we have had in Spain! I appreciate that the Spaniards like a bit of olive oil but the food we ordered was literally floating in the stuff – too much for both of us!
The rain was a bit on and off but the clouds were so black (my Mum would have loved pointing that out!), you knew it was going to absolutely chuck it down again at some point! Of course, it waited until we had just arrived at our new accommodation in the town of Calamonte and wanted to unpack the car… ☔️
We chose this accommodation as we thought it was a bit quirky… what do you think? Allie / Victoria – it even has a hot tub (but no Mike B butler to bring the beverages! 🤣):
Mérida!
Today, 13th October, we drove over to Mérida – about 10 mins in the car – parked up on the west side of the river Guadiana so that we could walk across the Puente Romano de Mérida to start our walk around town visiting all the Roman / Moorish historical sites – what a place! Well worth a visit if you like the history thing… too much to write about but here’s some photos and a bit of bumf!
The Alcazaba de Mérida – Moorish Citadel – built around 835 AD. Bottom Left – Puente Romano de Mérida (Roman Bridge) across the River Guadiana which is 792m long with 60 arches!
Images of Templo de Diana – Diana’s Temple – Apparently the only religious, architectural building conserved in Emerita – The modern city of Mérida has been built on top of Emerita – believed to date to1 BC! Bottom Left & Right: Arco de Trajano – 15m high – was covered in marble – thought to be a monumental door and entrance to the provincial forum.
Termas Romano de le Nieve – excavated in 1920s thought to be a pit to preserve snow so that the rooms on the upper floor, from the 3rd or 4th century AC, could be used as thermae. There are several sources to say that these structures were used to hold the Mérida snow pit which date between 7th & 9th centrury.
Circo de Romano de Mérida – where the chariot racing took place! It’s massive and was probably one of my favourite places today – I could really get a sense of the excitement there must have been with the 30,000 strong crowd that could have watched the racing!
Casa Romano del Anfiteatro – This enclosure, known generically as the House of the Amphitheatre, includes a water decantation tower, remains of two houses and a mausoleum. The houses, dating from the end of the 1st century AD, preserve remains of their patios, corridors and rooms, some paved with mosaics – see pics below too!
Mosaics in the Casa Romano del Anfiteatro – Middle Left: Three men smashing grapes for wine – Top Right: a fish – Bottom Right: a dolphin!
Finally the sun came out! Pics of Anfiteatro Romano de Mérida – The Roman Amphitheatre – this is where the gladiator and wild animal “shows” were held – dates back to 8 BC and had a capacity for 14,000 people!
Teatro Romano de Mérida – The Roman Theatre – Built to Octavio Augusto’s son in law (Marco Agripa) wishes between 16 & 15 BC – capacity for 6,000 people – this is the most emblematic monument in the city and most visited… It was beautiful and Pete’s favourite of the day!
More shots of the theatre together with, bottom Left, the bullring & bottom right, the river Guadiana.
And some of the birds we’ve seen today… Top Left: Skylark; Top Right: Glossy Ibis; Middle: Stork flying & one we spotted on a nest at the top of a roman pillar that was part of the “Acueducto de Rambo de Buey”! Bottom: Couple of Herons in trees!
All in all, it’s been a great couple of days… we managed to walk 7.5 miles around town and am feeling nicely knackered now! Was glad to make use of the hot-tub this evening!
We are here for another day before we move further north to Salamanca… so more to follow in a few days – Buenos noches everyone! Xx
All the gubbins… 
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