Once again my trip has taken a spontaneous turn after reading the weather forecast. After Seville I needed to avoid some rainy days (it happens sometimes) so I decided to head towards Lisbon. But first, and to break up my drive, I headed north, to the state Extremadura. Towns like Merida, Caceres and the Trujillo fortresses, as seen in the Game of Thrones Series, were on my list to see. Interesting!
Who would have thought that you can find Roman and more medieval history in the Extremadura region? Well it was probably more than likely but lets not kill the story too early!
Merida (Extremadura’s Capital), for example, is a simple town, decorated with some ancient Roman ruins inside the old city. Or is the city decorating the Roman ruins? Who knows! That said, as I have been to a few amazing ruins I only walked around the town and the outside of the Amphitheater. Small but nice.
MERIDA
Trujillo, Game of Thrones
Trujillo on the other hand was gorgeous. I booked a great hotel right near the Castle (another fun drive through the old pebbled streets to get to the car park) and relaxed while waiting for the chilly winds to pass. (Luckily they did the next day).
I can see how the Trujillo fortress and castle would have been used for the ‘Games of Thrones’ (season 7 apparently). It is quite impressive. And although I haven’t watched ‘Game of Thrones’, I did visit a few of their castle locations in Croatia (for example the Dubrovnik castles).
In the Trujillo town itself, you can also find traces of the conquistador Francisco Pizarro, who conquered the Inca empire. Trujillo is supposed to be Extremadura’s most beautiful town and I agree! It is worth a stop. And not only because of the Trujillo Game of Thrones castle.
Caceres
It was amother long and windy road to drive up to the old town of Caceres (I am pretty good at it now and the car is still without any scratches) . The ”Ciudad Monumental“ (old town) has plenty of cobbled, medieval streets to walk around.
The Gothic and Renaissance architecture is spread throughout and the town itself is encircled by a 12th century old wall with some 30 towers. That said, given the overall size of it, it was difficult to see the full grandness of it. Especially from the inside. I couldn’t really capture it in photos either. Shame really. But it as a pretty medieval town.
Caceres old town 
And so… after Extremadura
And so… after visiting those three spots in Extremadura, my short detour was complete. A local friend told me not to bother about Badajoz so I drove straight through the town, heading to Portugal and Lisbon. So exciting! (Read my Lisbon blog post here)
A new country for me to explore before heading back into Spain and Andalusia again. (Read my second Andalusia Trip and stunning Ronda here).
(Post 127)
