Day: May 1, 2019

Cáceres to Plasencia

In Cáceres the Staue of the Virgin of the Mountain is brought from the mountain down to the main church before Easter. Then during the first week in May she is carried back to the mountain. This morning after breakfast we went to see the Virgin.

Next we visited the nearby museum and climbed the tower of the Church of San Francisco de Javier.

The crypt of the church has an interesting display about the procession that brings the Virgin down from the mountain

Soon after leaving Cáceres we saw a sign for a Roman Villa. We drove down a dirt road for a couple of miles and came upon the ruins of the villa.

It was a warm day and the sun was intense. We got a few burs in our socks but it was interesting to explore.

We got back on the road and next came to Monfragüe National Park. The terrain and vegetation in this area reminds me of California.

Parador Plasencia is in a former convent. Our dinner was in a beautiful old convent room.

Duke had smoked trout with tomato ice cream as a starter.

My main course was fish and Duke had suckling pig.

Our deserts were wonderful too.

Merida to Cáceres

Merida was established by the Romans in 25 BC as the administrative center of one of the three provinces on the Iberian peninsula. We spent Tuesday morning visiting just a few of the many Roman ruins in Merida.

The Roman amphitheater

and the Theatre.

The National Museum of Roman art is built over a crypt that shows the houses, roads and tombs found during building. It is multistory, and open with natural light. There are four floors and all kinds of art found primarily in Merida.

Next we went to see the excavations in the Crypt of the church of Santa Eulalia.

Then the Aqueduct

And Diana’s Temple

About one o’clock we retrieved our car and drove north to Cácarces. Our Parador is right in the middle of the old walled town. While I took a nap Duke got a haircut.

We had dinner in the Plaza Mayor. It was the night before the May Day holiday and there were lots of people out and about. For desert we bought ice cream.