Alcuécar to Cáceres- (electric wheelchair style)

The albergue in Alcuécar was one of those big old catholic convents or monasteries that is just hanging on. It is now also an old people’s home. 

Huge high ceilings on the lower levels, and everything still in place from the 1950’s and deserted. Definitely a hint of Adam’s family about it. I had a small 2nd story cell that had lovely views over the next days route.

Today’s route was through similar landscapes as the last couple of days, olives, vines and dry grasslands. I followed a mix of farm tracks, single file paths and hard shoulder on “B” roads. Threading my way through a path made for walkers is just hard work. I know it’s a pilgrimage and not a holiday but the stress of keeping going  through such difficult terrain isn’t worth it.

I research the following days route using a variety of aerial imagery, guidebooks and even YouTube videos. Where I consider the route unnecessarily difficult I plan alternatives. By choice I use farm tracks but hard shoulders on small roads work too. 

Cáceres is an ancient city and a UNESCO world heritage site. I understand scenes from The Game of Thrones were filmed there. I have decided to stay a second night giving me plenty of time to explore.

The steep winding streets in the old town are a maze of historic delights. I love a big gothic church but the smaller everyday architecture is also charming.

On route I met up with los Amigos - my cycling friends Migel and Ramon. We shared breakfast and coffee and agreed to meet in Cáceres and decided on an albergue. On arrival and after showers, we lunched under huge parasols in a street cafe.

I love this dish called “Migas Extremeñas”. It’s described as a rustic rural dish made from leftover bread, so breadcrumbs chickpeas chorizo corn served with a fried egg on top. It featured as part of  a Menú del día.
but is so filling you can take the rest of the meal as a take away for later. Lovely with Tinto de verano - summer wine (red wine with ice and lemonade).

Exploring Cáceres was extremely difficult on my wheels. The old citadel is on a steep hill and full of stairs. Because I kept having to backtrack and detour, I never actual go a grasp of the layout so was trying to navigate with Google maps. You choose different transport options in Google maps and walking takes me to steps, same with cycling. If I choose by car, the one way system takes me every which way and takes hours.

There are two additional posts containing additional images from Cáceres I will incorporate when I have better editing capability than my iPhone.