IT WAS in the middle of the night when I awoke to realize I had not set my alarm for the morning. Time is all wibbly-wobbly right now so it was quickly done to make sure I didn't sleep in until some time tomorrow. As it would happen, though, I woke up and checked the time to see it was 759 am - one minute until alarm time. We took turns showering yet were still on time for our 830 am breakfast of a few fruits, breads and drinks. We chatted with a couple from New Hampshire who were exploring Spain and Portugal, then we excused ourselves to go pack our gear.
We were out the door shortly after 9 am into a damp (it had rained some time in the night) and cool morning. But, it was sunny and the sky was very blue. Though I had my light fleece under my coat it was not long before I took it off and Alex had removed his coat. Not hot, but with a steady tailwind, we had no breeze to cool off.
Getting out of Trujillo was tricky with such twisty and winding streets, but I was lucky that our gpx route was a single block away, so again, once we had found the pink line of our route on the map, we were on our way. First we climbed up the crest of the hill then down the other side and out of town. As with the last time I was here in 2015, I was sad to be leaving beloved Trujillo and its charmingness. I will return!
The road continued to descend down to the level ground below the hilled fortress town. We followed along the N531 which was a nice wide road, but since it ran parallel to the motorway, almost all of the traffic was there and not with us. We pretty well had the road to ourselves other than the occasional group of cyclists who came along. Unlike the cyclists in some other countries, most of them gave a wave, wished a good morning, and had big smiles.
Today's route passed through typical Extremaduran landscapes - rocky, pastureland with many trees which seemed full of the acorns that the jamon pigs gobble up, making their hammy legs so tasty. Though fairly flat, the road was not perfectly flat, so there was undulation - any rolling downhill meant there was a climb on the other side. Of course, this is our third day of cycling so we are already considerably stronger than a mere two days ago. We will only get stronger from here.
Looking ahead on our route we could see a built-up area and wondered if it was our destination. Sure enough, it was. Some time around noon-ish we had come past the city entrance and alternated between road riding and cycle path riding. Only one small portion was busy enough that we decided to pull off the road to walk our bikes. The rest was a normal city approach (population here is about 60k).
Looking ahead I could see that there was a portion of the city that was higher than the rest - and thinking that the city had been here since Roman times, and that we were staying near the old centre - yes, that is correct, we had quite the climb to get to the plaza mayor and our hotel which was just around the corner. But, cobbled streets, stone buildings, narrow roads... beautiful.
Suddenly, we emerged into the Plaza Mayor. Restaurants were just setting up for lunch, people were still wandering around trying to decide where to eat, and over yonder were some of the centuries-old towers and walls of the old city.
Excited to come and explore we decided to go find our hotel to drop off our bikes and gear. Our hotel was one street from the plaza mayor so we were there within another minute and the pleasant woman urged us to roll our bikes into the lobby and under the lobby staircase. She said that the boss was not in but that we could store our bags in her tv room until we were able to check in after 2 pm and that she was always in the room so the bags were perfectly safe.
And that was why we were able to happily head out to the Plaza Mayor and go on a quest for lunch. We weren't starving but when I saw that one place had paella as the first course, I was simply hooked. I have never eaten paella in Spain despite having been here numerous times. That has all changed - the paella was very good, but the second course, pork with potatoes was heavily laden with oil as was Alex's pork and veggies. We have both decided to seek out fruit and veggie laden meals for the next while and to avoid the oily meaty ones. Tasty, but you feel a bit gross afterwards.
We tried to wander a bit of the oil out of our systems then returned to the hotel to check in and bring the bags up to the room. Though not huge, the room is quite pleasant. We rested a bit, washed a few things and then it was time to explore the old centre - middle age beauty built on top of Roman foundations. It just boggles the mind to think of who has been here and how long people have walked these very streets. There were towers, and churches, and walls, and statues and staircases, and bricks, and stones and arches and the most incredible views to the surrounding countryside. And apparently it only gets better when night falls and the lights come on. A UNESCO stunner it is.
Back at the room now, the plan is to await nightfall and head out for some APs (artsy-photos) of the old centre. Stay tuned.
Alex wanted a photo to show his friends that he was still in Canada. -- between Trujillo and Cáceres, Spain
