Merida

POSTCARD SCRIBBLES:

Good evening!

We made it to Merida and it is INCREDIBLE; rife with Roman ruins and alive with eclectic art and archaeology.

For 12€ you can get an open-ended ticket to see different sites around the city: the Theatre and Amphitheatre, the Roman Circus, Santa Eulalia’s cript, and the old Alcazaba, to name but a few. There are also many monuments and museums that are free. One day is NOT enough to see it all, but thankfully we can come back and use our ticket at any point, so we’re thinking of coming back in spring for a weekend, hopefully when the cherry blossom explodes into bloom in the surrounding country-side; a sight I’ve wanted to see since a student waxed-lyrical about its beauty a few years ago.

We parked Rita-the-van by the side of Merida U. D. Football stadium, and started our tour with the Amphitheatre. It is incredibly well preserved and they have reconstructed one side of the seating area, so you can get a better idea of what it must have looked like originally, although it is still missing the top rows of seats (where the bricks and stones had been dug up and used as a quarry). The centre of the Amphitheatre has a ditch that was once thought to have been filled with water, in order for the Romans to re-enact sea battles (although this was later disproved), and small rooms still exist at the various entrances into the ring, where animals and gladiators supposedly waited their turn. There is a really good display of some of the different types of gladiators, and an explanation of their costumes, fighting techniques and opponents.

Right next to the Amphitheatre is the Theatre which is breathtaking, fully reconstructed, and since the 1930s (I think?), has been reclaimed as a theatre space again, where every summer they hold the Merida Festival de Teatro Clasico.

After satisfying our thirst for roman ruins, we picnicked next to the Roman bridge that arcs over the river Guadiana. 

Finally we visited the old Alcazaba, a perfect place, we decided, to hide out if attacked by zombies, and also home to an amazing aljibe, an underground pool that filtered water from the river through a series of rocks, for the residence of the Alcazaba.

We finished the day off in a teeny tiny village called Mirandilla, where we found THE ONLY bar with wifi. It was also full of men -ONLY men- and we came to the conclusion that I was literally the only girl in the entire pueblo. The men in the bar were all watching the Olympics (women fighting women... had to be!) and the barman (possibly to stop a riot), guided us to the 'salon' part of the bar... a large enclosed space far away from everyone else hahaha!

Have you ever been to Merida? What did you think of it?

N Xxx

Zafra

POSTCARD SCRIBBLES:

Hola from Zafra!

Well, we drove back into Seville on Monday night in high spirits, and made a short rest-stop at Casa De Us, to pick up forgotten essentials, have a cold shower and a siesta before setting off again, this time north along the ‘Ruta de la Plata’ (Silver route) towards Zafra. We’re trying to travel as much at night as possible, as Rita, stately and elegant as she is, is somewhat antiquated, and doesn’t have any form of air conditioning... an essential attribute for 40˚ day-time driving.

We drove for about 120 km until we came to a lake, half way up the map to Zafra, on the edge of a village called Calera de Leon. We parked in a dusty field, set up camp, and were rewarded for our efforts the following morning when we woke up and saw this:

The only souls in site were a couple of guys that had pulled up in a Land Rover to go fishing, a herd of ginger cows, and their friendly aged herdsman, who greeted the two tousled sleepy forms that stumbled out of the van with a cheery ‘Buenas dias!’.

We seriously need to learn to pack up camp more quickly in the mornings, as by the time we made it to Zafra, the sun was already high in the sky and we were very quickly sizzled to a crisp, as we explored the city’s compact walled-in centre.

Whitewashed houses, and columned squares, after Sevilla, Zafra was a little disappointing. Picturesque in its own right, and with narrow winding streets, it unfortunately lacks something. Perhaps it is the commercial street that runs through the centre of it, chock-a-block with the typical high street shops found in any town.

It was also unfortunately tinted somewhat by the disastrous attempted siesta, where M, Güini and I were literally boiled in the tin can that is Rita.

On a positive note, the solomillo iberico we tried in the bar ‘Comeero’ behind the bull ring, was absolutely mouth watering, and there was a very interesting plaque in one of the squares that talked about a tour of the local vineyards... enough to tempt me back for another (cooler) visit in the future, methinks!

N Xxx

Setas

POSTCARD SCRIBBLES:

Hello

The mushrooms in Sevilla have grown!

The architectural project has taken over 5 years to get to this point, the same amount of time that I've spent living in Sevilla :) 

The project has had to find it's way around various problems, from finding roman ruins on the site, to protests about the old market being closed down, to safety fears, etc etc. All in all I think they've done an amazing job at accommodating most issues. The Roman ruins were left where they were found, and can now be viewed inside the mushrooms. The market has also been relocated under the mushrooms, and I'm hoping to visit it tomorrow for some fruit n veg shopping (camera in tow... obviously!)

It's quite a shock to see this massive organic structure curve its way around the old plaza, still surrounded by the older, more classically beautiful buildings, but although in many ways I'm a purist when it comes to architecture, this surreal building/sculpture is lovely to walk around, and I have to admit that from hating the idea, I've done a full 360* turn, and now LOVE IT!

Have a good day

Nxxx