1205 Salamanca

Skull with frog


Catedral Nueva

Tonight will be our fourth night here in the university city of Salamanca. Students must be out of town just now as we are staying in a student apartment for a very cheap price. We have stayed in some odd smelling rooms but this one smells like bad turnips as we walk in the door but very soon we become accustomed to the smell. This place is right beside the conservatorium and there is a primary school at the end of the street. The children head off to school at 9am and school finishes at 2pm ready for siesta.

We have been taking it easy just walking for about 3 hours then going back to the room until about 6 pm and then joining the paseo when everyone gets out on the streets with their beautifully dressed children eating ice creams.

Today we visited the Roman bridge again and also went back to the Cathedral and went in search of a skull with a frog on it on the entrance to the original university building. The superstition goes that if a student can find the skull with the frog on it, he/she will have good luck in studies, life and love. The university opened in 1218. There are some decidedly weird objects on both the entrance to the university and the Gothic entrance to the Catedral Nueva. It is clear that many of the figurines from the gothic facade have been stolen and others broken the attempt. The choir stalls in the cathedral take up an enormous area - the sound would be magnificent if the stalls were all filled.

There are two cathedrals side by side. The original is in Romanesque style started in the 12th century and the new cathedral was begun in the 16th century. We climbed the tower of the old cathedral and then I remembered that Meryl and I had been there before but the view in 1971 was of olive plantations; now it is of a new part of the city. We clambered over much of the roof area between the new and old cathedrals with some quite scary circular staircases with no railing on the inside and a drop that went out of sight. Brrrr!!! It gave me quite a sense of achievement to return safely to terra firma (not having a working left hand sometimes throws me off balance).

The city market is right behind the Plaza Mayor so we paid it visit to get some salami, cheese, fruit and vegies. The little suckling pigs all lined up in the butchers' shops with their arms around each other broke my heart. Also of interest is the amount of tripe heaped up in butchers' shops. Many bars have huge hams hanging above them and other shops like delicatessens have sausages and hams dripping from every space on the ceiling.

Haven't seen much mention of Don Quixote and Sancho Panchez.

Steve is in his element in a land where wine is cheaper than coffee. He pointed out that the wine here does not have as high alcohol content as the wine in Oz. I also notice his pace quickening and a glazed expression crossing his dial when we walk near boutiques and jewellery shops of which there are many.

There is also the outstanding Casa de Las Conchas (House of Shells) which was built at the end of the 15th century and has remarkable iron grilles on the windows.

We didn't get to go to the mountains unfortunately. The only bus was on Sundays and we thought the hire car price was too high at 60 EU.

Looking ahead, we go to Toledo tomorrow and then on the night train to Barcelona. We stay in Barca for 3 nights and then go to Collioure where we meet our friends, Steve and Jan. Then we have to plan the next four days until we go to Ste Marie de la Mer for the Gypsy festival.

Stayed at JCH Congreso Apartamentos for AU $196 for 4 nights.