Total distance 15.2 miles (12.2 miles without the detour)
We had a lovely breakfast overlooking the peristyle/gardens. The gardens are a mix of plants that the Romans would have recognized (roses, lilacs, citron) and others that Noemi, our hostess, likes (e.g. wisteria). Noemi is a very charming and thoughtful person. Her husband, Santiago, is an archaeologist who works in Merida in the mornings and is the “resident slave” in the afternoons.
Much of our walk to Alcuescar was through the Parque Natural de Cornalvo, a bird sanctuary. It was a beautiful day for a walk in beautiful country. (It was cloudy and the temperatures were about 20 degrees cooler than the day before).
Predominantly holm oaks and large stands of cistus bushes (akin to yellow broom), Spanish lavender and white rock roses. Also cork oaks, pink rock roses, asphodel, vines, olives and livestock and outcroppings of granite with some boulders resembling erratics. Bird song. Many white storks and colorful birds Stephen thinks may be hoopoes.
During our walk through the park, we saw no other human being other than two lone cyclists. We saw (and heard) two military jets, which together with another we spotted the previous day, totaled three non-bird objects we had seen in the sky since we began our walk!
At the exit to the park, we crossed from the province of Badajoz to the province of Caceres (both in Extremadura) and encountered Rudy, a German pilgrim we had met the day before.
We stopped at a bar in Alcuescar for some sparkling water.
Alcuescar (population 3000) is a cute hillside town with winding streets which has seen better days.
We walked from the Plaza de Espana to the Visigothic Basilica (8th or more probably 9th C). The Basilica was once part of a Monasterial complex which included two churches —Santa Lucia and Santiago— and extensive olive groves and orchards in an unpopulated area. It is the only Visigothic building still standing in Southern Spain.
The walk to the Basilica was stunning—cork oaks, strawberry trees, wildflowers!
We took a taxi (pre-arranged) back to the Casa Rural in Aljucen, where we enjoyed a delicious dinner of dishes largely made from Roman recipes.
