Spain 42 - Badajoz / The Duke of Wellington again/a more Andalusian feel/strawberry and cream crepes

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We wake up to yet another hot hot day with little promise of shade. We hadnt expected this level of heat in October and were not prepared for it. My vertigo persists and I wish it on someone else so that I can get back to normal. Wobbling about is not my style. We left our camping spot and hit the road. Our destination the city of Badajoz. Of course it has walls around it so we are ticking the walls box again.

Parking in Badajoz was a doddle. Glenn had again done his homework and managed to find a good camperstop, If you wanted you could stay over night for free. It had waste dumping costing nothing and free potable water. Close to the river it was within walking distance of the city. The area was a bit run down but that wasnt an issue . We felt safe in the knowledge that locked up Gabby would be safe whilst we were out around Badajoz. Within sight of the walls it was the perfect spot. We were not intending stopping overnight but just using it as a space to park whilst we spent a few hours wandering and getting lost in what we hoped would be an interesting place. Again the heat by now was overpowering and made walking hard work. We headed in the general direction of the walls high above us.

Confucious said (and I do love a good Confucious ) that "Whereever you go , go with all your heart" Despite us not having the best of holidays we are indeed trying to do that.

More news came in on Glenns mums house . The survey has been completed and the buyers now have asked us to find a price for having a dampcourse installed . We told them that it needed one so this should not have come as news to them. We are not sure if it is the building society demanding the survey or our buyers. Whichever one they are dragging the selling process out. And then there are the electrics . They want us to get a price for a new dampcourse and to get a survey for the electrical wiring. Why they could not do it themselves has lost me? Surely it would have been easier and quicker for them to do it and then presumable try to reduce the house price . It is all a game and one that is spoiling our holiday. It is hard to deal with things when you are still too far away.

Still there are things to do and things to see that are more important. The electrician has been booked and the damp course man so we can get on with visiting this city again one liberated by the Duke of Wellington. Will we see anything about him? Doubtful . It seems as if he were airbrushed from the cities history.

The walls - what can I say? They went all round the city encircling it . This has been a holiday of walls and these were similar to most we have seen . They have the feel of Moorish walls and inside is the University of Badajoz with the students milling about or sitting around. We joined them in their bar for a cold drink. The university had been funded by the European Union . I wonder how many of our British Universities are being funded by the EU. I wonder if the young students look at us and think old . We must look ancient to them. Do they not understand that one day they will be like us? Do they not think that we have done it , been there and worn the T shirt just like they are trying to do? The walls were interesting and we spent some time just wandering round peeking into locked towers and looking down on the ground below us.

Dinner by now was calling and we decided to try to find our way down from the walls into the squares below. That was easier said than done. No steps down . We had to backtrack to the place we joined the walls and start our walk downhill rather than up. Full of interesting odd looking buildings. Red and white tile frontages that were very different to anything we have seen on our travels so far. There was though very little life in the square . Are all Spaniards living in the cities or on the coast ? Are they on the daily siesta? Whatever reason the place seemed as dead as every other place we had visited .

The second square we entered did have some life . Not a huge amount but nevertheless life. Students sitting on steps with books and laptops on their knees. Some on their own , others in deep conversation. Was it their course that they were discussing or last nights party? The cafes and bars slowly filled up with customers. There was the large and impressive town hall and the rather dour looking church. I was looking forward to finding this one open for a look inside.

But first dinner. I found a bar that sold crepes just for a change or so I thought .The young lady behind the bar was helpful suggested that I could have crepes with strawberry sauce, chocolate sauce or caramel. I ordered strawberry and cream for Glenn but failed miserably ordering just a plain one with lemon for me . I tried asking for lemon, limone or citron but in the end gave up and settled with an espresso. No dinner for me.

Finishing the crepe we settled up the bill and headed off for the church which was closed again. It was impressive and fortified without much external decoration.

There was nothing else to say or do but to search for the town gateway that once formed part of the encircling walls. We knew it was on our way back to Gabby so walked to one corner of the square. We debated which way to go first . Turn to the left would be a good start and seemed to be in the general direction. No signs so we had to wander down empty back streets. Some shops were boarded up and others had for sale signs in the windows. Signs of a town down at heel. The story of many we see on our travels . Do we turn to the right or will that take us too far over? We see an English language nursery for babies and young children to get to grips with the English language. A shop whose windows were full of brightly coloured flamenco shoes and dresses of many layers. Do we now turn left ? That seemed a better option and eventually the road opened out and the gate was there before us. It was impressive but stood sadly on a traffic island isolated in its splendour. The Puerta de Palmas was built in 1551 and had two cylindrical towers flanking the entrance door. Prince Philip II and Emperor Charles V and date of construction are mentioned on the outer side of the tower but we would have had to brave the traffic to get there. The towers were fortified with battlements and they had two decorative cords at the top and bottom levels. Its entrance is east-facing and is double-arched and decorated with medallions of the shield of the Emperor Charles V. It was once used as a prison, but has since undergone many renovations and has been an entrance point to the city. It was probably the best thing we saw in the city.

We walked over the old bridge across the river from where we could see our home from home. Most of these Spanish towns now seem the same. We have really failed this trip to find different things to see. Normally we manage a variety of things to see but this time we seem to have failed miserably. We are heading now for the coast to hopefully get our first sight of the Med. What we do after that will be anyones guess? Where ever it is we will follow the advice of Confucious and throw ourselves in with a smile on our faces and just be grateful to be away from a grey old Autumn day back home.

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