May 15 - Merida to Aljucen

I left Merida walking! I was so delighted, even though I could still feel some slight pain. Ignoring it can work most of the time. When I start being in pain, that is all I can think of. I just keep looking around at the countryside and that helps alot. But really, it is much much better than it had been. Thanks, Octavio Augusto, quiromasadista!!
That morning we walked along some Roman aqueduct ruins. They look immense, and being early morning and with a beautiful sky they were awesome to see. Leaving Merida was tricky. The camino is broken up due to road building and we followed the yellow arrows and it took us out towards the east and then we were lost for no more arrows were to be seen. We asked many times how to get to where we needed to be and after circumventing this construction area we headed west almost to the road we had left, just further north. All road walking!
Along the way, in Embalse de Proserpina, we rested by a large lake, spreading my sarong to lay on for a while. There was a chilly wind and I keep going from wearing to taking off my fleece all day. Fields of flowers are blooming, the sights are beautiful. Vineyards were abundant, with their early spring leaves filling out.
Walked through a small town that had chickens all over the place, loose.... we dubbed it Chicken Town. Salvador takes a picture of a chicken walking across the road....why did the chicken....ahh never mind.
We get to Aljucen and find Ana at her house. She owns the albergue as well as the hostal or pension where she also lives, with Elena. She takes us to the albergue and I asked her about the Roman Baths sign I saw upon arriving into the town. She called the place for us and they were ready for us to come over. I could not wait. She accompanied us and you would not know it by the plain door, no different than any other you see along the road, but once in there it was incredible.
A young woman owns it and explained the whole reason she opened one up in that particular village.... very simple... she wanted to open one and that village was cheaper than Merida and quieter. It sure is. She decorated it with a Roman look. It is a must see. We were taken into a room where we could change and then she showed us the Baths. OK. If you are a couple you would want to be here together, alone. Yeah well, I was with my son so it was specifically a "let´s do something we ahave not ever done before and hey, it´s thereapy for my legs". I chickened out going into the cold water...well, I made it to just under my navel. She encouraged me to dunk myself but no way! I stayed in it for a little while though. Salvador was already in the warm water and was blissed. I want bliss! This pool is large so once I went into it (ahhhhhhh) I could move my legs around and swing my hips and body around and it felt like the best therapy I could ever have! I stayed in that pool quite a while, for the next one, the hot one, is the end. It was magical being in the hot one. It is rather smallish but it´s perfect for just soaking in it. Out time was up (was it really almost 2 hours already?) and we got out and went to pay. Get this... she cahrged us 5€ for the both of us!! Why? Well, she explained that this day was Mercury Day. The god Mercury represented profit, thievery in commerce. So, on this day, people who own stores or services charge half price as a way to honor him and give back to the community for the "thievery" commited against them. Awesome!! I kind of felt bad only paying 5 euros for such service.

Then we headed to our albergue. We were the only ones there that day,,,,we had the place to ourselves. Salvador chose a different room just so that he could have one night without hearing me snore. SMILE.
Ana was waiting for us back at her house for dinner, so we went there. Turns out she had no one staying there either. We were the only peregrinos in Aljucen! She served us a delicious meal and we got to chat a bit. After dinner she poured a little bit of Liqueur made from acorns, a specialty of that area. It was sweet and very good. Then she showed us her home, including her house, the attic of the place. She was very nice and I highly encourage people to stay in Aljucen. Oh, she also gave us a private tour of the church, since she gets to hold the keys for the place. We went to bed all happy. What a great day! TOTAL 17 KILOMETERS.