Mérida, Spain: Hispania, a Small World

After a 3 hour car journey I was in Mérida. Mérida is city with many Roman ruins including a colosseum and a Roman theatre. It was named Emerita Augusta under the Roman rule beginning with emperor Octavian Augustus and was one of the two original capitals of Hispania (Roman Spain). It is no longer a major city, although the city has played a part of every Spanish war from the conquest by the Romans to the Spanish civil war.

New before the Old

My host, Ricardo, was actual the boyfriend of my host in Salamanca, Elena... small world. He lived with 2 girls (Patricia y Alba) and another guy (Mario). They were all very cool and chilled out university students.

Family Portrait in my room

My first full day in Mérida I was off to record something for my pop's funeral. Somehow I just happened to be in the only area of Spain that had sun on this day. It was something I didn't mention to most people I met and didn't think about it when in the company other people but I thought about it a lot when by myself. Everything just worked on this day.

That night I cooked a family dinner and shared a few beers. The next day I explored most of the amazing ruins of Mérida.

The Roman Theatre

A Roman ruin in the centre of town

The Roman bridge

The theatre

The Colosseum

Part of the Aqueducts with birds nests

The Aqueducts

The fortress used by Romans, Visgoths, Moors (Muslims), The catholic kings in the reconquest, Napoleon, the republicans and the nationalists in the Spanish civil war.

The Roman Racetrack

The Roman Arch

The next day I decided my destination for the night, I played ping pong on the dining table with Ricardo, experienced Patricia's awesome parking skills, helped Ricardo discover a special bottle, ate a 2 euro family pizza and enjoyed it, and said goodbye to an awesome group of people.

Next Lisboa (Lisbon) via Bla Bla Car, 1am arrival and another game of sleep roulette.

Lessons Learnt:
The Roman Empire was huge.
Sometimes it's better to enjoy the company of awesome people than kill the mood with problems.
It's a small world.
When you are positive things always just work when you need them to.