Our day started off with a 2 hour van shuttle to the Spanish town of Torremocha, in the Extremadura region of Spain. After yesterday's fairly grueling ride, today's ride was considered a recovery ride (yeah, right). The temperature was already warm when we left Marvao at 8:30 and by 11:30 when we arrived in Torremocha (we gained an hour and are now +9 hours from Portland time) one could tell it was going to be a scorcher.
The countryside this morning was through olive groves and cork oak savannahs, similar to what we've been riding through in Portugal. After lunch however, the countryside changed and wasn't as lush as what we've become accustomed to. Most of our afternoon ride was in the blazing sun with only a few patches of shade along the way. We followed a road called the Via de la Plata, which is a part of a Camino de Santiago route originating in Seville. We caught glimpses of the familiar blue and yellow Camino signs marking the way, but no pilgrims. It did make me nostalgic for the Camino and all the memories that held.
Merida, our destination today, is an ancient Roman town, having been founded by the Romans in 25 A.D. and is celebrated throughout Spain as having the greatest collection of Roman ruins. As we made our way into town and to our hotel we passed the impressive remains of the longest Roman bridge still in existence. Later in the evening, we visited the Roman amphitheater (where gladiator games were once held) and the ancient Roman theatre still in use today as the site of musical and stage performances. The evening was capped off with a stroll through town past more Roman ruins and the best dinner we've had so far on this tour.
Tomorrow appears to be another hard day of riding in extremely high temperatures (whose idea was this, anyway?).
Stork nesting area
Via de la Plata - Afternoon ride in the sun
Roman bridge
Amphitheater
Roman Teatro
Taking a break from the afternoon sun
Great pics and love the commentary!! This sounds like your hardest bike ride trip yet!!
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