Nearly a rest day. 16 km to Aljucen

I woke up at 5 as usual and forced myself back to sleep. It wasn’t quite 6:30 when I woke up again but I was sure I wouldn’t go back to sleep so I got up and going.

By 8, I was leaving Mérida, having had a leisurely breakfast. The exit from town goes right by the Roman aqueduct, and with the sun rising it was really pretty. Hard to believe this amazing structure used to go all the way to Proserpina, which is where the first century reservoir (another engineering feat) was the city’s water source.

This short walk was beautiful, through the dehesa, the typical southern Spain countryside of boulders, meadows, Holm’s oak, wetland meadows and tons of wildflowers. Just gorgeous.

And here I am, shower and washing done. The albergue is full (lucky me to be in the room of 2 women and 2 men instead of the room of 15 men and one poor woman). There’s a restaurant in town, but not much else going on.

PS. In case you are wondering what it was that led to me walking such a short day, it has to do with a planned detour tomorrow to a visigothic church, Santa Lucía del Trampal.Read more