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Published: June 13th 2017
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Geo: 37.3833, -5.9965
Moving Day
DAY SIX
Saturday, October 1, 2016
Like the pro golfers, Saturday was moving day for us. For those who aren't golfers, it means if you are going to make your move, Saturday is the day to do it … before you run out of time. In the good old days, when Tiger was Tiger, he might have been way back in the pack and have an incredible Saturday to put himself back in the thick of things.
It was like that for us today. We made our move into Spain. We are ready for the big time.
We had breakfast in the dining room in Evora but when we met up with our moving team, one of them was down for the count: Annie. She had been up all night sick and she was faint over breakfast. We don't know if it was food poisoning, but it seems it was a virus. Otheres were under too. They decided to travel, but weren't really up for it. To "health" with them!
After a fairly long drive and a refreshment stop, we “mooved” into Spain where we saw acres and acres of olive trees, vineyards and quite a few cows. Joe Pereira said they were either outstanding in their field, or sitting down on the job. He also said those sitting down were ground beef. Take that, Nicole Kreigenhofer!
We arrived in Merida, another of those cultural sites recognized by UNESCO.
Mérida has been populated since prehistoric times and was the most important Roman city in the Iberian Peninsula. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, during the Visigothic period, the city maintained much of its splendor, as the capital of Hispania. In 713 it was conquered by the Muslim army and the Arabs re-purposed most of the old Roman buildings.
The city was brought under Christian rule in 1230; in the 19th century, in the course of the Napoleonic invasion, numerous monuments were destroyed or damaged. Later the city underwent massive industrialization.
The ruins include the Roman Theatre, built in 15 BC and accommodating up to 5,000 people … still used today for classical performances. We then moved to the Amphitheatre, built in 8 BC, where up to 15,000 people witnessed gladiator battles. We then boarded the coach for a panoramic tour of the Circus and the Roman Bridge.
The ruins were discovered under the current city many years later and were reconstructed where possible, and reinforced with
more modern materials. Some columns were intact, for instance, while others were created to complete the support structure.
We had lunch at Parador de Merida, a lovely hotel with a tasty selection of Spanish and American foods. Then we were off to Andalucia, the southern province of elegant resorts, gypsies, flamenco and olive groves.
We are staying in the provincial capital of Seville; our hotel is a beauty called Hotel Alphonso XIII. There are all the old world touches with many of the current day luxuries.
I headed out immediately because there was a religious festival nearby, where the Our Lady of Peace statue was paraded through town, from the Cathedral of Seville to the downtown square and back. Thousands come out for this, including families with small children. It was fun to see – so different from our festivals in the US. There were 1000s upon 1000s of celebrants still partying well into the night.
Many of the group walked with Joe through town, passed the Cathedral and Palace, to La Casa del Tesorero for some traditional pasta dishes. Nice to break up the Iberian food with an occasional alternate ethnicity.
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