The town of Los Santos de Maimona had taken great pains to ensure that pilgrims could easily find their way through with large, yellow arrows painted on the newly paved roads.
We were right in the middle of the school drop off zone with throngs of parents (and grandparents), kids and traffic police. We loved watching that busy morning scene as we enjoyed our coffee.
We headed out late morning, heading back to the alcazaba, which occupies an enormous space right at the entrance to the city. It was quite intriguing to see the layers of Roman, Visigoth, Moorish and Christian usage all in one location.
The route leaving Mérida was much nicer than coming into the city, including passing by the impressive aqueduct, and soon we were on a separated bike/walking path that took us all the way to the Embalse de Proserpina.
We were quickly into the natural park which made for a wonderful day of walking. We had great energy and less sore feet which added to the uplifting feeling.
We came quite close to some hunters in the morning and from that point on we tried to be a little louder than usual in our conversation and we were glad that Nedjo’s pack is orange.
Our short walk into Cáceres was lovely, with the route close to the highway but always on paths and trails, and not with any of the sketchy feeling as we entered the city.
Rest day started with the best breakfast of the trip, a buffet with lots to choose from: fruit, juice, muesli, yogurt, toast, cheese, cakes and pastry and with excellent coffee.
