Salamanca

There are 17 autonomous communities in Spain. I thought a good goal would be to visit all of them. In an effort to conserve time and money, I decided that the regions I visited in previous trips to Spain would count towards my goal, if necessary. The Canary Islands, Catalunya, Castilla La Mancha and Madrid would fit into this 'if necessary' pile. I stayed overnight and took photos of monuments in all of them, so they count, regardless of whether or not the photos/hotel stays happened in 1998. If you count those, I have visited 10 of the 17. After visiting Salamanca, in Castilla y León, the number is up to 11. Salamanca is a university town near Madrid. It's home of the oldest university in the country (founded in 1218) and is the current headquarters for teaching Spanish to foreigners.

This particular weekend was a 'puente' (long weekend) due to the Día de Andalucía (Andalucía Day. Sevilla is in the Andalucía community) celebration on February 28. (By the way, the celebration started in 1980, when a lot of good things started.)

In the interest of saving money, I decided to take the bus to Salamanca instead of planes and/or trains (there are no direct planes/trains). The ride was 7 hours there and 8 hours back (because the route on the way back was different: there were more stops.) On any given weekday I usually ride the bus about 3 hours anyway, so what's 4-5 more? I left Sevilla on Saturday morning and got into Salamanca in the late afternoon. The 7 hour bus ride wasn't actually that bad. They played Twilight and some Marvel Comics movie, so it went pretty fast. I watched Twilight and then listened to the bus radio on the rest of the ride. They played songs like Whitney Houston's I will Always Love You and a song called Perfect (by Fairground Attraction). The songs were on loop, so I learned them well.

On the way from the bus station to the hotel, I stopped at one of the tourist offices to get a map of the city.  This office was in the Casa de las Conchas (The Shell House).

I found the hotel, dropped my bags off and headed out. Even though I had a map, I didn't use it. I decided to just walk around and see what I could see. I figured when I wanted to get back to the hotel I could pull out the map and get there.

It worked out quite well. I saw quite a few things and got a feel for the layout of the city. I didn't know exactly what I was seeing, but I figured that I would figure it out the next day.

Plaza Mayor

More Plaza Mayor

Inside the library/Casa de las Conchas looking at the Clercía.

Photo art exhibit showing photos from
the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)

Patio de las escuelas- looking at the Historical U building

There is a frog carved in the façade of this university building in Salamanca. Supposedly if you find it, you will have good luck. It is a big tourist attraction. People stand outside the building and try to find it. (Look closely at the photo and you'll see the people are looking up.) I didn't know this. The first day I walked past the building and saw the people gathered at the entrance and just thought, 'Oh, those people must be a tourist group waiting to get inside.' And I went on my merry way.

Looking closer at the U buildings façade. Look for the frog.

Church and Museum of San Esteban

Self portrait in a borrowed jacket.

The next morning I got up and went running. I headed towards the river because where I come from, the river has the best running in town. In this case the river was the Tormes River.

I headed out to explore again after my run. I wish I could tell you I used the map this time, but the truth was that there was so much to see in such a small area, that you could pretty much just walk around and see everything. So that's what I did.

The Roman Bridge. 15 of the arches are from the 1st century AC.

The bull. Seen in the city's coat of arms and
 in the novel Lazarillo de Tormes.

Inside the New Cathedral (1733)

Outside the New Cathedral/Plaza de Anaya.

The old Cathedral. Begun in the 12th Century.

Ancient sewer.

The Spanish Civil War Museum

The Civil War and Free Mason Museum, to be exact.

Salamanca Cave. Supposedly where the Devil taught 7 students.

Then it was time for lunch. I had the 'menú' (a three-course lunch) at a restaurant near the cathedrals.

Sopa Castellana: bread, garlic, paprika, egg.

Pork in a mustard sauce.

Chocolate cake.

I then made my way back down to the river and visited the Museo de La Fábrica de Harina. There was absolutely no one else there. In fact, there wasn't even an employee in the museum. But since the door was open and it was supposed to be free, I went in.

Flour mill museum.

View from the Flour Mill museum.

The view of Plaza Mayor from my hotel room.

The view of Plaza Mayor from my hotel room balcony (by day).

At some point, after reading about what to do/see in Salamanca and seeing frogs in the tourist shops, I put it together and, in the half hour I had before I had to head to the bus station to go back to Sevilla, I tried desperately to find the University again to see if I could spot the frog. I did circles around the cathedrals, but couldn't find the building. I even used the map. Somehow, on the third or fourth try, I went through the Escuelas Menores and there it was. With my camera warning me of a low battery, I snapped a few photos and hustled to the hotel to pick up my bags and hoof it to the bus station.

There were things that I didn't get to see in Salamanca, such as the inside of the University, the museum of Salamanca and the cathedrals medieval towers, but at least I could say I saw the frog.

The bus ride home was a whole hour longer and it felt like it too. It might have been the fact that I forgot my headphones the bag in the luggage area under the bus. I was forced to read the subtitles to the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie instead of getting to hear it. (I know that some of you may feel that was a blessing in disguise.) At one of the stops I asked the bus driver if there was enough time for me to get my headphones out of my bag. He said there was, so I got to watch Up in the Air with sound. (And enjoy the bus radio afterwards too.) The movie was in Spanish with Spanish subtitles. However, the subtitles did not often match what the person in the movie said. The meaning was the same, but the words were not. For example, George Clooney swears in the movie. The voice said, 'Damn' but the subtitles said 'Shit'. I guess it was a good way for me to learn synonyms.

When we reached Sevilla, I left the bus station and headed to the bus stop. Although it was the late, and the buses come less frequently, the bus I needed to take to get home was coming around the corner just as I was making my way to the stop. By some miracle, I made it in time. Maybe there is something to that 'finding the frog' legend after all.