Day 24: Medellin, Dec 6 rest day

We were both quite tired this morning after our long day yesterday and as we searched for breakfast it became very clear that this was indeed a holiday (Constitution Day). We eventually found a good coffee shop for the usual coffee/herbal tea and toast then headed back to the hostal to sort out a plan. The stage from Don Benito to Torresfreneda has two dangerous stretches. One is over a bridge and we’d had enough of that scariness already on the trip. The second you can avoid by fording a river but that too was out of the question at this time of year and with the rains we’d had. In my advance planning I’d worked out a number of possible scenarios, but now with the holiday and almost no bus service, they weren’t options.

In the end we decided we’d take a taxi to Medellin and booked a room there at the lovely-looking Hostal Rio (€55). It was 11:00 before we left Don Benito and we got our taxi to drop us off just on the edge of town so we’d at least get a little walking in. We may have been able to just taxi across the bridge but it was unclear where we’d pick up our route again. As more people walk this route hopefully there will be better information on options as the bridge really does look bad and we were glad for our choice not to walk it.

We had an initial wander and a snack in a little plaza, then were able to check in at 1:00, dropped our stuff and went to the ruins of the Roman theatre and the adjacent museum in the old Church of Santiago. We knew we’d have no shortage of Roman ruins in Mérida but this was a nice teaser.

We followed that with an excellent lunch at Hostal Cabana right back where we’d been dropped off in the morning. In what was becoming a go-to favourite we shared a salad with goat’s cheese and frutos secos (nuts and dried fruit) and bacalau dorada (cod, egg and potato scramble). The restaurant was absolutely hopping because of the holiday and we had walked a long way looking for lunch so we were glad we found something delicious.

We headed back up to the castle for its afternoon opening time. It was yet another terrific castle but with a steep climb to get there and I skipped going up to the tower and the walkway. We had a long afternoon rest, showers, then out to see the castle lit up – in the shape of a castle with a star on top – and the lights in the plaza. We thought we’d go for something to eat and drink but decided we didn’t really need it, so just opted for an early night. Tomorrow we’ll catch the early bus to Torrefresneda and from there do our final 25 kilometre stretch into Mérida. My knees are quite sore with all the climbing these past two day so hopefully it will be okay.