Stage 9 - Torremejia to Merida (15km): 05/09/2014 06:13

The longest Roman Bridge leads to Merida

We are getting good at this - 15km completed by 11:30am and now, five hours later, neither of us has taken to our bed. While the albergue we stayed in last night was very attractive and its menu del peregrino excellent, the area outside seemed to be a gathering place for the youth of the village who made a great deal of noise until around 1:00am. I slept through most of it but Pauline had a disturbed night.

In the early morning darkness we must have missed a yellow arrow, as for the first five or six kilometres we were walking on the hard shoulder of a highway rather than on a nearby parallel pathway. For the next two or three kilometres the road was the Camino and after that we were back on a dusty pathway between vineyards.

We started at 6:15am, Kevin started around 8:00am, and caught up with us just before 11:00am. By then he had completed almost 12km. Entering Merida we had to cross the longest bridge ever built by the Romans. Not only did the Romans leave a bridge, they left other interesting structures, some of which we have already seen. We plan to visit the remainder tomorrow. Since arriving here we have had lunch with Kevin and then said our goodbyes as he continues walking tomorrow and we have a rest day.

While I was sitting outside the albergue in Torremejia yesterday another two pilgrims arrived, both males. As the hospitalera wasn't there, I welcomed them. When I asked them where they were from, the younger one said, "Isle of Man". I was a bit taken aback so I sought confirmation. Yes, he was from the Isle of Man. I proceeded to give them a guided tour. The older man clearly wasn't from the Isle of Man, as he had a very pronounced foreign accent. I began to wonder about the younger man as his accent was also somewhat strange. Then it dawned on me, he had said he was from "Allemagne".

After our arrival in Merida we visited some well-preserved Roman sites, the Temple of Diana and the Portico of the Forum. The ruins of a villa, built, I think, by the Visigoths, were inside the temple. In the evening we were in a fort built by Muslims, which once guarded the entrance to the town.