Be Careful What you Wish For

Today, about 18 km outside of Mérida, I am ensconced in a small albergue with 14 beds. All are full. I'm sharing a small room with a German couple I've met several times, but the rest are all new -- a 70-something Australian with a hearing aid and an inability to keep his loud annoying laugh under control; a 20-something German who smokes a lot; 7 Spaniards from various parts of the country, with the Andaluces trying to impress the more haughty Basques from Bilbao (another three Captains of Industry, Dana!); and a silent Irish-Belgian couple. Not exactly the group I would have hoped for.

But the scenery was beautiful -- I first went past the huge reservoir Proserpina that the Romans had build 5 miles outside Mérida, and then built an enormous aqueduct to carry the water back to town. Only parts of the aqueduct are standing, but it is quite a sight. Those Romans were pretty smart, at least at some things. The rest of the walk was through endless fields of cork, huge boulders, and wild flowers. There are several new flowers in the repertoire now, with some little pretty pink ones that have become my new favorite.

I could have gone further today but decided to cut it short, so that I would have another short day, which in turn would allow me to take a 7 or 8 km detour to visit a 7th century Visigothic church, Santa Lucía del Trampal. I a sucker for those beautiful old buildings, especially when there are capitals in good condition.

Since I am occupying one of four computers in a weird internet room in the "Retired People´s Place", where all the users are under 18 and there are no retired people in site, I think I should move away from the guy coughing his brains out next to me.

Dinner tonight promises to be totally uninspiring -- the choices are eggs with chorizo or eggs with ham. There was no fresh food of any kind to buy in the small grocery store. The man in the store told me that the fruits and vegetables only came in on Tuesday, but then I later realized that today IS Tuesday (at least I think it is!)