A Roman city to behold

Merida

The previous evening we caught the train from Zafra. As the train would only allow 3 bikes at a time it was necessary to get 2 trains. Pen, Sheryl and Grace took the mid-afternoon train while Greg, Kym and me the evening train. It was always the plan to make up time here and there by cutting out a few days to give us more days in the iconic towns. Merida is one of those towns.

Getting in late, the forward party has already sorted dinner. We had booked an apartment right in the middle of town. We enjoyed having our own kitchen to buy local and cook up. Dinner tonight was a great mixed salad and beers.

The next morning, we were up early to explore a city that dates back to Roman times, before Jesus took his first breath in a stable in Bethlehem.

First cab off the rank, actually coffee first, we explored the stadia. I want to say Colosseum however I will be corrected that it’s a name only for the stadia in Rome. I digress, this stadium though not as well preserved as the one in Nimes in France (home to denim the material) was still great to explore.

Even better preserved was the the theatre next door. It still hosts concerts.

In the afternoon I rode out to the decathlon outdoor store. I was riding with Greg to a courier company to say goodbye to Kymmy’s bike (yes Kym has officially withdrawn from the tour de plata ) While in the area I spied the decathlon store which was much bigger than the one in Seville.

As a side note I’ve been trying to get a jet boil canister since arriving in Spain. Unbeknown to me I had my one from Australia still in my jet boil. The canister went through security at Sydney airport, Dubai airport and the railway detector at Barcelona. We arrived at the railway screening at Madrid and the security guy said ….. gas …. You have gas…… I don’t have gas I insisted. Much to my embarrassment there was the cylinder.

Back to Merida, we finished the afternoon with a roadie in hand at the temple of Diana which was literally behind our apartment. Seriously history is here to trip over.