Next stop after Evora was a coffee stop at Evoramonte. Besides coffee Sanch bought backy for his sister I think, as it is about 40% of the cost it is in Ireland.
Our next official stop was our fuel stop after which we were bowling along nicely when tomtom took us onto the motorway. One of the perils of not putting in waypoints is that tomtom will take the device settings, in this case, fastest route and take you off at a tangent. I amended the route to take us off motorway at the next junction. That was when the fun, read pain, began.
We were riding the last few miles of Portugal and glad to be so but she had one last twist for us. In a town called Elvas, we ended up riding around the industrial park, trying to get out of the bloody place. Twice we rode up past the station, being told to turn left, only to find left would take us though a barrier into the a rail yard! Reprogramming tomtom seemed to make no difference, as each time she brought us to the same point. A couple were having a drink outside a cafe and must have wondered what was going on as we rode past 4 times. Eventually we set tomtom for fastest route and she took us back to the motorway. What a waste of feckin time! So frustrating. Not sure if it is tomtom or to do with local OS mapping but it really put the seal on our time in Portugal.
On the motorway, within a few miles of the Spanish border, Ginny and I clocked up 2000 miles for the tour. 30 miles on the motorway was pretty boring but I just wanted to get to Merida by that point. It was noticeable too, that the grey clouds and intermittent rain we had had all morning, disappeared once in Spain and the temperature crept up to 30 degrees. Good riddance Portugal!
On arrival in Merida, we immediately started our sightseeing, starting with the very impressive aquaduct, currently populated by nesting storks, the baths and the totally amazing Circus, where they once raced chariots.
From the latter, we made our way to the hotel. Checked in, we freshened up and went in search of beer. We came across Bar Marilyn, where we spent what was left of the evening, drinking Cruzcampo Especial at €1.70 a glass and eating free tapas, plus an omelete sandwich. One of the local 'ladies' caught Sanch's eye but when she left it was moi, she was blowing kisses to for some reason! Ha, ha!
As we are here for two nights, tomorrow being our rest day, I shall be having a lay in, though I expect the feckin bugle will still go off at 6 and 7:30. I have to cut the old bastard some slack though, coz it's his birthday! The rest of the day will be spent seeing the Roman sights this town has to offer. Brilliant.
Till tomorrow.
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