Our last accommodation didn't have reliable wifi so I'm playing catch up for a few missing days. After Merida we headed for Guadalupe, but with stops along the way to explore Cáceres and Trujillo.
Cáceres is a popular tourist city, and after spending a little time there it was easy to see why. The central old city is filled with well-preserved buildings and monuments. Like Merida it dates to Roman times with Moorish and more recent constructions. We had thought we might spend a night or two there, but when we looked at hotels the night before we weren't finding much available. When we arrived on Friday it was immediately clear why: they were starting on a major weekend celebration of the region, and the city was packed. Still, we enjoyed a couple of hours walking around the old city and exploring.
Next stop was the much smaller and quieter town of Trujillo. Again, walked around the old city and the castle at the top of hill. The castle was not much used as a fort, but the Spanish used it as a treasury to store valuables for the king.
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| Moorish arch at one entrance to the castle |
We finally made it to Guadalupe late in the afternoon. Guadalupe is a small city, formerly a pilgrimage destination and now on the tourist map for an amazing and art-filled Monastery. The city sits in a lovely setting on the side of the mountains. Saturday we headed out on a walking tour that visits two old hermitages in the nearby hills. Hiking is steep here but we had perfect weather and the wildflowers are in full bloom. Both of the chapels we visited, San Blas and Santa Catarina, were built in the 1500s as stops for pilgrims on their way to Guadalupe.
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| Our path crossed this viaduct, which looks old but is actually a 20th century railroad trestle, no longer in use. |
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| Looking back on Guadalupe |
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| San Blas |
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| Santa Catarina |
Later in the afternoon we toured the monastery. Photos are not permitted inside but the exhibits of religious art and artifacts are phenomenal. The monastery was built on the site where a carved wooden Madonna, which had been hidden and buried during the Moor invasion in 712, was rediscovered in the early 1300s. It's been a pilgrimage destination ever since. Seeing the Madonna up close is, for believers, a highlight of the monastery tour.
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| Inner courtyard of the monastery |
Views around the town of Guadalupe.
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Central Plaza
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| Front of the Basilica |
Today we drove from Guadalupe to Ávila, another historic walled city. Going over the mountains we had great scenery, then ran into a ferocious rainstorm which turned into enough hail that the road was covered. Ellen took the second pic through the windshield.
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