SALAMANCA

The weekend after Dublin was our class trip to Salamanca. We left on Thursday morning, met in Palacio de Festivales and took a five hour bus ride to the city. We had lunch in the hotel, then had a short walking tour of the vicinity. We were staying right in the center of the city, and really the purpose of the tour was just to get our barings for when we went off on our own. We saw the Plaza Mayor, which was built at the end of the Gothic movement and at the beginning of whatever movement came next. We took some pictures, then headed back to the hotel.

After we met for dinner, the group of us Americans all got ready to go out, which meant all the Spaniards ran and hid. And just so you know;

Travel Tip #14
In Spain, and most parts of Europe, you can and will get kicked out for noise. If you're pregaming (or pre-drinking as the Europeans call it) in the hotel, don't get loud, becuase you could find yourself on the streets.

I usually don't like to explain my travel tips, because I think the mystery of it caters to the humor, but I will explain this one: I speak not from experience; this is just what I heard. No one got kicked out, which is lucky, because I'm pretty sure we were damn close.

We did some bar hopping even though night life is a tad more expensive in Salamanca than it is in Santander. I think this is because it's more of a university town than Santander. The streets were crowded like you wouldn't believe with Spanish college students.

The night ended a bit early because one of my friends got sick and I took care of her, but let me say this:

Travel Tip #15
KNOW THE NAME OF THE HOTEL OR HOSTEL YOU ARE STAYING IN. OR AT THE VERY LEAST, KNOW THE NAME OF THE STREET. And if you aren't going to memorize neither the name of your hotel nor the name of the street it is on, at least make sure you have some credit on your phone so that you can call someone who does know this information. Seriously. Your worst nightmares will be realized. Bad things will happen to good people; I beg you, learn the name of your hotel.

Friday we woke up fairly early and ate breakfast in the hotel. We took tours of Catedrals Nueva y Vieja (The old and new cathedrals of Salamanca), which were much different than Catedral de Barcelona. I like that, because I'm always afraid they're going to get a bit monotonous. The facade of the New Cathedral broke or burned down or something back in the 1970s, and when they fixed it, they added 2 things; an astronaut and an ice cream cone. I was able to find the atronaut, which you can see a picture of on my facebook, but not the ice cream cone. Then we got to go on the roof, where the two cathedrals connect, which I'm told is the best view of the whole city. I got some great pictures of this as well. (Side note-this is where I discovered my fear of spiral staircases. And raise your hands, who is surprised? No one? Okay. I suppose it's no shock when I'm scared of tight spaces and heights; why would I be perfectly okay when you put them together in a twisting vortex of doom?)

We also got to see La Casa de las Conchas, which was my personal favorite because it's a house covered in shells just like the one on my foot. Which is a bit strange, because Salamanca is in the middle of Spain and no where near the coast. Then we saw a church, which I can't remember the name of, something like "La Iglesia del Puente Romano" or something like that. But anyway, the city was settled by the Romans, and they built this bridge (english for "puente") in the first century. The first century!! I wish I were capable of building something that would last for 2000 years.

Then we went to see El Jardín de Calisto y Melibea. This was coolest, I think, for my compañera Emily and me, because we were most familiar with the story of Calisto and Melibea after having done a project on it together for our literature class. It's basically the Spanish version of Romeo and Juliet. It's a tiny garden, but the main attraction is the well that stands in the middle. Couples from all over come to attach a padlock some part of the well. If I were a romantic, I would so want to come back and attach one myself with a boyfriend. As it is, I am not a romantic, but I still fancy it a cool idea.

After the garden, we had some free time to walk around to get coffee or explore the city or what have you. I bought an "I <3 a="" and="" back="" balance="" br="" espa="" going.="" have="" hostel="" i="" like="" nice="" ola.="" salamanca="" shirt="" siesta-ed="" tee="" the="" then="" think="" to="" true="" turista.="" went="">
Actually, I didn't siesta per se. I really just laid around and watched hours of spanish disney channel. That was probably the best part of the whole trip. I watched Hannah Montana Forever, Suite Life On Deck, and Phineas and Ferb ALL in Spanish. Phineas and Ferb was my favorite, not only because that show is brilliant in English already, but also because they always have at least one song per episode, and it was really cool to listen to them translated into Spanish. Of course, some of the meaning is compromised, but still interesting. Or is that just really lame of me?

Whatever.

That night we went out again. We went to a bar that, if you paid the 3€ entrance fee, you would get complementary beers for 2 hours. And if you paid 6€, you would get complementary mixed drinks. Qué mala idea. Yeah, I'm glad I have good friends that I can trust.

Saturday we went to see la Universidad de Salamanca, which is the oldest functioning university in Spain. The oldest university is actually in Valencia, but it shut down in the 16th century (I think?). According to a legend made up by the students, if you can find the tiny frog within the facade of the main school (the school was divided into the main school and the lesser schools. the main school is where people studied philosophy and religion, which were considered much more important at the time the school was built. so, if you were a math or political science major, you would attend the "lesser" school. Qué interesante) without help, then that meant that you would have good luck on your final exams. If you weren't a student at the time but were still able to find the frog, that meant that you get a wish. So, if you'd like a wish and are bad at finding shooting stars, then there's still Salamanca.

We also got to see La Iglesia de San Esteban, which I think was my favorite. The space is just so grand and overwhelming. By the way, pictures of all this can be found on my facebook.

That night, I borrowed one of my friend's computers and got to skype with my sister and my two little cousins, who are slowly but surely becoming not so little anymore. Then, on a whim, because my boyfriend wasn't answering his phone, I skyped with my dad because 1. I saw that he was online and 2. I hadn't heard his voice in just about 2 months. That was a well appreciated digital family reunion. Then I went down into the lobby to talk to one of my friends and ended up being kidnapped by two of my friends and taken out on the town, even though I had no plans to go out that evening. It was close to 1am, which is about the time the city comes alive. The streets were crowded yet again with Spanish college students. Even though I made good on my promise to myself not to drink, we didn't get back to the hotel until around after 5am. I blame the time change. Here in Spain, they don't "spring forward" until the 27th of March. So after a breif 4 hours of sleep, I was downstairs at 9, ready to hop on the bus back to Santander.

So here's the question you knew I would ask: What did I think of Salamanca? (This is becoming something of a Jerry Springer's final thought, I think) I thought it was really beautiful as well. It was really different looking than Santander. Santander is your typical ugly city. Out of all my trips up to this point, Salamanca was for sure my favorite. I think that if I hadn't chosen Santander, I would have studied in Salamanca. It's about twice the size of Santander, which intimidates me, but it's infinitely more interesting than Santander because it's something like 700 years older than anything in the States. Its only vice is that it's extremely touristy. I could never imagine living there. It would feel like an extended vacation rather than life. So, Santander is still number one in my book. It feels much more real, which I like. I only have 3 months, and I want them to feel as real as they possibly can. My señora told me that this entire weekend was sunny perfect weather the whole time, but as soon as we drove the bus into the city, it began to rain. My friend Keelan said, "Welcome home to hell."

Holy shit, I love this ugly little city.


Until next time,
"El mundo es un libro y ellos que no viajan leen solo una página"