So, Merida! Here’s a little information on this historic city. Merida was founded by the Romans in the first century BC. The Camino enters Merida along the most impressive of Roman bridges – 790m of beautifully well preserved arches in fact – the longest Roman bridge still in existence!

To the north of the city is the Alcazaba, a fortification built by the Moors. There is an impressive Roman theatre dating back to 15BC, as well as a well preserved amphitheatre which could hold up to 16,000 spectators; a museum dedicated to Roman art and several temples built in honour of various Roman gods. We took a stroll around the main sites. There is a huge aquaduct, as remarkable for it’s architecture as much as for it’s storks nests! Storks are everywhere, I keep forgetting to mention them on this blog as they are so common here, it’s like telling someone in Birmingham that you saw a pigeon this morning! We love them! Their huge nests balance on every tower or lamp-post that we pass, in the city and the campo, and we enjoy regular sightings of storks flying over head clutching sticks or marching through grassland.

Of course we stopped for a tostado before leaving – our best yet!

Today we had sun again. It was a beautiful walk. After leaving Merida we found ourselves skirting a fabulous lake / reservoir which was obviously the place to be in the summer, and had been since Roman times judging by the archaeological digs exposing the original Roman dam walls. Bars and restaurants lined it’s sandy beach like shores, closed for now… There were actual playas and lovely picnic spots. The people of Merida no doubt enjoy this beautiful place. Cycle paths, pedaloes and fabulous water birds!

The gorgeous walk continued on a narrow sandy track through grasses and bright yellow flowers and olive groves. Happy sheep chilled out on the lush pastures, grazing away, oblivious to us. The sky was blue, the sun shone strong and we were glad to be back walking!

Our plan had been to sleep in Aljucen, which according to Kelly’s guidebook was the next place to offer an albergue, but we came upon a brand new municipal in the pretty little hamlet of El Carrascalejo, about a kilometre or so before. It had all new facilities and a bar /restaurant opposite that the locals seemed to have adopted as their own. The Camino had obviously brought some benefits to this sleepy place. We had a room to ourselves until John from Rotterdam arrived – serial Camino walker who had hiked from his house all the way to Rome! The hostel had a super, bright, modern kitchen, well equipped with everything you would need to cook a fabulous meal, except a hob or oven! There was a 1 Kw electric camping ring and as we had carried the ingredients for a carbonara and lunch tomorrow we were determined to cook despite the challenges. The pasta cooked even though the water never actually reached boiling point – who would have thought this possible? The meal preparations were a long and frustrating affair but we were eventually rewarded with a surprisingly delicious dish of creamy pasta a la champignon espinaca. How did we cook the mushrooms you ask? Well, there was also an electrical toasting device – think a 1970s heater dismantled and laid flat but mysteriously still working. We balanced the mushrooms amongst the metal spokes and they browned nicely. Pleased with our inventive efforts and full and satisfied we headed to the happy bar opposite for some 1 euro vino tintos and crashed out for the night.