SEPTEMBER 29TH, SATURDAY BLOG#19

SEPTEMBER 29^TH, SATURDAY BLOG#19

Saturday appeared to still be slightly overcast with low streaming clouds of moisture flowing inland from the med. It’s travel day again, moving from the coast inland up past Seville to Merida for a couple of nights (Sat/Sun). Down for breakfast toast, coffee etc and asked the girl if we could have a tour of the house and grounds. Right after breakfast finishes at 1030 the lady of the house will give us and a British couple (Tim and Julia) a tour. Problems with the credit card machine which does not like our American cards without the embedded PIN chip, so we will need to hit an ATM in order to settle up our hotel bill. At 1030 we were summoned to the front living room door of the Duchess house and the tour begins. The house and grounds date back to the 1200’s. No photos please the light will harm some of the old artifacts. A Palace, a church and who knows what else?  The Palace is filled with ancient furniture (from 15^th century) religious artifacts (from when it was a church) and the Duchess’ books from when she was a child. A lot to take in and remember but it was a privilege to be given a private tour. Everyone who works here is so proud of the building and its history. There are photos  and paintings by Murrillo and Goya ,it is a virtual treasure trove! Look, don’t touch; don’t walk in, just marvel!  I do worry that the paintings need cleaning and restoring and that the documents are in a climate controlled environment! Like I know anything about it! Just passing thoughts.

We had a coffee in the lounge before we left, said goodbye to all the staff (now our new best friends) and hit the road. It was a long drive and the weather was quite iffy. Patches of rain and scudding clouds, but we listened to our book “The Girl Who kicked the Hornets’ Nest” and the kilometers just melted away. We only stopped once for a potty break and reached Merida at about 3.45 just as the weather was clearing up quite nicely.

This is a nice Parador, remember Cheryl? You spent a sick day here! We headed out immediately for lunch and a bit of a wander about. We followed our footsteps from two years ago went into the town center for a quick bite to eat as it was very late for lunch. Back to the hotel for siesta and to hear the roar of Harley Davidsons pull into the parking area. Five  chaps in leathers arrived for an overnight at the Parador. We saw the same guys in town later that evening as they were at the same restaurant that we ambled into. Found out that the guys were from Netherlands and spoke great English but little Spanish and so we translated and helped them to order their meals as they wanted. The hostess and waitress spoke only Spanish and been struggling with these guys until we helped out. Good meal, Jane had garlic shrimp and we had NO werewolves at the Parador last night. However, wedding reception had the main restaurant at the Parador as well as tables setup outside however, it was too cool for outside activities and the entire function remained in doors. Lovely bride but we did not get her photo as she returned from powdering her nose. Time for bed its nearly the witching hour with both hands on the clock straight up!!