Day Trip to Mérida

    I went on my first family outing this weekend, and I can honestly say for the first time that a road trip of this sort did not disappoint. My host parents took me and my host siblings to the beautiful city of Mérida, one of the most important cities of Roman Hispania. Our trip to this city had been one of the first things my host parents wrote to me about, telling me that they wanted to take me to see this beautiful city. 

    Before we visited Mérida, my host parents took me to a Neolithic site: El dolmen de Lácara. A dolmen is a type of construction in which a horizontal slab of rock rests atop vertical slabs, forming a sort of roof; this structure specifically was used as a tomb. Archeologists estimate this structure to be over 5,000 years old. 

Traveling from the Neolithic site to Mérida with my host sisters was a lot of fun. They love to play with my phone and take pictures. I have so many selfies taken by the both of them :)

A selfie by hers truly, Catalina :) They also love to teach me Spanish songs in the car. The last song I remember they taught me that was stuck in my head was "Ropa Cara". The song talks about some high end brands like Balenciaga, Gucci, and Prada which I found very amusing. 

In Mérida, we saw the remains of a Roman aquaeduct and we ventured into an archeological site housing a theater and amphitheater. I learned that the city of Mérida derives its name from the name given to it by the Romans: Emerita Augusta. The city was one of the most important cities of the Roman Empire and it contains the most Roman preserves than any other city in Spain. 

The two pictures above were taken at the site of the Dolmen. The two pictures below were taken at the archeological site devoted to the ancient Roman ruins. The picture of the bottom right shows part of the Ancient Roman theater while the picture on the bottom right shows a vomitorium in the Roman theater. The picture on the top right shows a dolmen, while the picture on the top left shows the sheep we encountered on the Spanish countryside. 

Pictured atop is a selfie by hers truly, Carmencita. Pictured on the bottom are Catalina and Carmen standing atop the dolmen. 

We wanted to visit more places but we decided to return earlier than planned, as both the girls and I were tired. The drive back to Badajoz was much shorter than I expected, but we have full plans to return to this beautiful city and continue exploring :)