Merida, Spain

Looking forward to get further south!!

Left Salamanca late in the morning. Got fuel and went shopping in Lidl.
Arrived at Merida at about 17.00 after a relatively slow 300km journey. The mountains along the way still had snow on top. The temperature dropped to below 10 degrees at 15.00.

On arrival, we finished an open bottle of rose and had a chicken kebab BBQ. 🍷🍷🥰
Hurray ..... temperature back to 22 😋😋.

Next morning we went with the bikes into Merida.
Merida was once a big important city within the Roman Empire and is over 2000 years old.
So, we are here to see some old roman rubble ..... and we were not disapointed.

Started with an amphitheatre where gladiator fighting took place. It was ok, but we have seen better preserved examples in Verona and Rom.
Next door was a great Roman Theatre and it is the best preserved in Europe. It is still used today for performances.

Next up a Roman bridge .... the longest still existing.... and a moorish Alcazar.
For the construction of the Alcazar they nicked the stones from Roman structures and buildings .... recycling in action over 1000 years ago.

After walking past various temples, we visited a couple of Roman villas from some posh dude .... Lesley wanted to see the floor mosaic tiles to get some inspiration for our house. 🥰🥰

Finally, we cycled to the outskirts to see parts of the longest Roman Viaduct still in existence. We both agreed, that the Viaduct in Segovia is more impressive in structure and better preserved.

We both experienced Roman Rubble Overload by now and went back to Winie for our traditional Sundowner. 🍷🍷

Lesley and I agreed, that Merida has some good preserved Roman Ruins that are worth seeing, but the town itself is a dive.Read more