Yesterday was our last day on the Camino Mozarabe. The day was a real comedy of errors which did not go at all as we expected but turned out perfectly.
We had expected to walk into Merida today - Saturday - at around noon, have a quick wander around the town and then take a late afternoon train to Huelva in southern Spain, the first leg of our travel to the south west coast of Portugal. But a few days ago, with the benefit of Pierre's advice and other guide notes on the Mozarabe, we decided to take a bus for some distance to avoid long stretches of road walking and a few dangerous kms. We would arrive in Merida by Friday afternoon and have a few hours to explore the town. That's when we had a quick look at booking.com for somewhere to stay in Merida - and Domi made the wonderful suggestion that we stay at the Parador.
So on Friday morning we set out early from Medellin to walk the 10 kms to Santa Amalia to arrive in good time to have a second coffee and take the 10.35 bus to San Pedro de Merida, leaving us another 17 kms to walk to Merida and the Parador. Domi had found the bus information online.
When we arrived in the small town of Santa Amalia we went to the information centre - equivalent of local council - for directions to the bus station, which turned out to be just the one bus stop. We said bus to San Pedro - no, not possible, bus directly to Merida, no stopping. Domi tried to explain he'd seen the timetable online - and it showed three stops between Santa Amalia and Merida. By this time we had attracted a small crowd - unanimous in their assurance that the bus would not stop in San Pedro.
With plenty of time in hand, we went to a nearby bar for a coffee and to discuss Plan B or was it Plan C? Easy really, we were definitely not going to walk the long stretch of road - so we would go to the bus stop and when the bus arrived we would ask if we could get off at San Pedro and, if not, we would go directly to Merida. When the bus arrived, the ticket seller confirmed we could get off in San Pedro. And that's what we did, almost!
As we made our way to our seats, we saw the French father and son, whom we hadn't seen for a few days, and another French peregrino. They had taken the bus a few towns back and were planning to get off in the town after San Pedro (our stop) and walk the last 10 kms to Merida. It was a quick journey and as we approached the second stop on the way, the bus began to slow down and the ticket seller called out San Pedro. Domi and I quickly got out of our seats to make our way to the door just as a young Spanish passenger called out 'no', as in no-one for San Pedro, in response to which the bus driver for sped up again and we were on our way to the next town!
Domi and I and the other three Frenchmen managed to disembark at Trujillanos and walk the last 10 kms to Merida on a peaceful rural path.
As The French often says, plans are made to be changed. We couldn't be happier with this unexpected turn of events. We walked in to the Parador at 1.55 pm, just 5 minutes before check-in. And have discovered that Merida is a fabulous town.
More to come on Merida and the Parador.
Hasta luego.
J x
