Tue 9 June - Merida

Merida read very well in the Lonely Planet guide. Unknown to us beforehand, its history was as a Roman town built in 25BC to the orders of Octavio Augusto as a tribute to the veteran soldiers of various legions. Hence Augusto Emeritus was constructed on the banks of the Guadiana and it became an important Roman administrative centre. It houses some of the most complete Roman buildings outside Rome and is a World Heritage site and capital of Extremadura. It deserved our time although we had not planned to stay. We marvelled at the theatre, amphitheatre, the Roman bridge (1600 m long with only three columns), aquaduct, arch, temple and circus which could seat 30,000 people. Truly a wonderful example of Roman industry and engineering, the town was clearly proud of its history, had embraced its heritage yet was busy, thriving and smart! Contrast this with our experience of the previous day. The people were more cheerful, the women were smart and attractive and there was a myriad of tapas bars and restaurants catering for locals and visitors (interestingly, not that many) in its narrow streets. A Tapas Trail passport from the tourist office gave us the incentive to try out the local fare. It was fun to find the bars – some 40 in all – then savour a glass of wine and a tapas dish of their choice for Euros 2.50. Decent, full bodied wines and tapas we could not have ordered ourselves in places we would probably not have entered. The best was the Convivium which served us a delicious shredded veal with pimientos ‘Ripiado de Ternera ropavieja’ although the first tapas of a spicy cold soup with a little ham ‘Salmorejo con Jamon’ was a good starter. Although our ambitions were high, we only made four stops before we realised that we couldn’t manage more so settled for a coffee and brandy before retiring to the well provided and central public car park for our cheap overnight stay. All in all, a real gem of a place which restored our faith in Spain.

Pic 1 - Diana's Temple Pic 2 - Merida Roman Bridge