Today was a good day – from one stunning city to another with lovely countryside in between.  We got off about 8.30 and picked our way through a sleepy city that had not woken up yet.  This was Saturday morning and things started even later than usual.  It was bright but chilly until the sun got up.

The route took us alongside the Camino (the walking route from Merida to Santiago de Compostela) and, being early on a Saturday morning, there were lots of people already up and walking in the cool of the morning.  Most walkers were men (only a few women) and walking solo.  I get the impression this is a contemplative exercise and company might get in the way of contemplation.  During this trip I am reading a history of the Opus Dei movement (or cult as many see it).  Spain is still a nominally “catholic” country but, whilst about 55% of the population identify as catholic, only about 15% attend mass each week.  Nearly 40% of the population say they have no religion and that percentage is growing year on year. 

Not everyone who walks the Camino is, of course, a dedicated catholic – some do it for other reasons.  But doing the Camino is a fixture of religious life here and there is a whole industry set up to support those who are walking.

The first 25km were well away from the main roads as the road snaked its way across the landscape.  We passed a massive reservoir that the Romans had built to provide water for Merida; located about 10km away from Merida and fed by pipes and aqueducts to get water to the city (and one of 3 reservoirs).  The engineering prowess to make that a reality 2000 year ago is staggering.

After 25km we reached the village of Aljucen, where we stopped for coffee and tostada (becoming a morning ritual). There we met a chap who was mountain biking from Seville to Compostela (and had done it several times before as he lived in Seville).  He “helped” us with tips on the route but it was not easy to understand his instructions.  We nodded, took photos of his maps and assured him we would do our best to follow his tips – and we will “do our best” but that does not mean we will follow every suggestion as they were really geared to off-road riding which we are trying to avoid if possible.  We also met a lovely couple from Illinois, who were on day 11 of their walk.  They reckoned it would take 45 days to reach Compostela – good on them!

After breakfast we had the longest, least steep and possibly most tedious climb ever.  We rose about 200m over about 15km; often at such a slight incline that the Wahoo did not even register we were climbing.   We can, of course, only cycle the road in front of us but this was not the best climb.  It felt uphill (it was uphill) but often looked flat.  And the road was generally straight so we could see 1 or 2 km in front of us, and knew it was just going on and on.  The top was a relief and the views were good – but again you get better views with a sharper climb.  We started down and it was the same thing in reverse – except we were in top chain ring and whizzing down a road that looked flat!

We munched sandwiches for lunch in a shady park and then explored the beautiful village of Aldea del Cano; a stunning little gem of a place.  The village square had the church on one side and the Town Hall on the other.  As Bernie remarked the other day, it is not clear why local council’s need such ancient, impressive and glamorous locations but boy do they have them here.  There is the Spanish equivalent of an imposing “Hotel du Ville” in every hamlet.   

From here it was just 20km into Caceres, our destination for the day.  It is a mediaeval town with a well preserved walled city section.  We found our hotel (right in the centre and “rustic” in character as befits a 1* hotel – but with a hot bath so who is counting stars (apart from those watching Eurovision this evening).  After a rest we ambled around the old city, treated ourselves to coffee and chocolate crepes (because there are no limits on food consumption when cycling)

We happen to coincide with the Caceres half marathon. Being Spain and hot it started at 7pm, although earlier we had watched a couple of children’s races.  It also conveniently started and finished in the Plaza Mayor just outside our hotel. Sadly the 1800 places had sold out so we couldn’t join them (!) but we watched the grand departure at the beginning as runners streamed past, watched the half way mark  over a glass of wine in a lovely square, watched the winner come through in 1 hour 8 minutes and finally watched the tailenders over beer and pizza

A really good day indeed.