Just a short hop up the Ruta de la Plata, Cáceres had been chosen by Mr B, having read in our Rough Guide about its ‘stork topped towers that dotted the wall which circled the mediaeval centre’. Not to mention that we had also discovered that it had been used for filming the recent Game of Thrones prequel, leading us to expect something not hugely different from Dubrovnik, perhaps…
Well, maybe our arrival at our pitch at Camping Cáceres and its quirky, personal ‘bathroom hut’ should have alerted us to the fact that all might not be what it seems here…
We have come across these ablution arrangements before, in Italy. And, were we travelling in the summer, the unheated, tiled and unventilated wet room might have had more appeal. However, under a tree, with no warmth even in the full autumn sun, its appeal was lost on us!
Undeterred by the quirky hut, we set off the next morning for a day exploring the old city. We could have had a better start: having confirmed with reception that the bus into the city left from outside the site, Mr B got it into his head that it was actually the other side of a bridge over the nearby main road. Had it been a week day, he would have been right… as it was Saturday, however, we had the pleasure of watching our bus stop outside the site we had just left, and then head into the city… Still, we had a nice view from the bridge…
One hour later we were on the next bus, and disembarking at a roundabout rather than the normal stop we had been told to look out for, we could see that the road where we should have got off was closed due to an accident…
… except, of course, it wasn’t real, just filming, Cáceres style!
Arriving at the main square in front of the old city, we were surprised to hear what sounded like a late finishing, or early starting, full bore Euro-pop disco around the corner, only to be greeted by a huge crowd watching a climbing competition, set up in front of the entrance to the old city!
With national TV on hand, it was clearly a big deal and we were soon absorbed watching different youth teams compete.
It did, however, detract a little from our expectations, and combined with the large tour groups we dodged around, not to mention the absence of storks (or even abandoned nests) we wandered around the old city practising our best techniques for expectation management…
Seeking refuge in a fascinating exhibition of lithographs, lino prints and water colours by Mirò, Dali and Picasso, we managed to allow enough time to elapse for the groups to clear before we managed to explore without most of the hordes.
The old city had plenty of photogenic vistas…
but our favourite bits were in an old Arab family home that had been turned into a museum celebrating Arabic culture and the city’s Islamic period…
…and wandering outside the walls on the non tourist side, where we learned about the back breaking work (by the women) of hauling water from the stream outside the walls back into the houses, using big jugs on their heads. The men, used donkeys…
Our cunning plan for avoiding the crowds soon presented an immediate drawback however, as we climbed back up into the old city and main square, we couldn’t get a vacant table at a single resto/café anywhere! So, making do with a snack bar substitute outside the city walls, we promised ourselves for future visits to swerve cities on Saturdays, do more advance planning where we can, and recognise that the fickle finger of fate will always have the last laugh!
Our next stop is Salamanca, further up the Ruta de la Plata and – we’ll be there on a weekday!
S&J
12.11.22
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