Today we left Portugal and headed east toward Spain. When we reached Spain we had to turn our watches ahead one hour. I wondered why there was a time difference when all of Iberia is on the Greenwich Mean longitude. According to our Trip Lead, in the 1930s, Franco who was an admirer of Hitler changed the time zone for Spain to coincide with that of Germany, because he did not want Spain to ever be on the same time as England.
Our first stop was at Merida
. The original name of the city founded in 25 BC was Emerita Augusta because it was a place for the retired soldiers of Caesar Augustus. It's Roman ruins are the main attraction for travellers. As we entered the city we were able to see the Roman bridge and its modern counterpart. We visited the Roman Ampitheater and the theater, which are both fairly well preserved, since for centuries they were below ground and only rediscovered and excavated in the 1960s. After our tour we had some time to explore the city, and decided to take advantage of a tourist train that was scheduled to run twice an hour for a 30 minute ride. However, there were only 5 of us and he wouldn't leave without more passengers, so after sitting for about 10 minutes we decided to explore on our own.
We happened to see Rikardo, our Leader who offered to show us the way to the Temple of Diana, and in route we had a tour of modern Merida. While this temple is similar in style to the one in Evora, it is larger, and more complete
. It is surrounded on 3 sides by a modern building containing offices and shops, which seemed odd, but it is a modern interpretation of the structures surrounding the temple in Roman times.
Taking a break from sightseeing, we stopped at a small cafe for a lunch of tapas. It was very good and very cheap--only 6 euros for tapas, wine and tip. Then it was time to return to the bus and continue our journey to Carmona.
Carmona is one of the famous white villages of Andalusia. Some of the structures and part of the wall date from Roman times, however the walls of our Parador date to the 14th Century when it was the palace of the Moorish rulers. When the town was conquered by the Christians, it became a palace of the Spanish kings. Today, only the exterior walls are original. The interior includes influences of both the Moors and the Spaniards, and includes many modern luxuries befitting its royal past.
Merida and Carmona
Monday, February 02, 2015
Carmona, Andalusia, Spain and Canary Islands
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2025-02-11
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Bruce
2015-02-06
Hi Marylea - that theater at Carmona reminded me of the theater at Orange in Provence.