March 8
Hello everyone. A good portion of the day was the 4 1/2-hour drive to Salamanca. It was uneventful though we ran into some rain, fog and even snow in the mountains. We got settled into a beautiful flat, threw a small load of laundry in the washer, put clothes from yesterday’s laundry out on the line to finish drying (sun was actually shining) after which we went to lunch. During lunch we got a call from our host telling us that his father had given us the wrong flat…oops. He said not to rush back but that dad would meet us there to help us move to the other flat. By the time we finished lunch, it had started raining again and so we rushed home, not just to change flats but to get the clean clothes off the line. Luckily there weren’t many, so we added those wet clothes to the ones we took out of the washer. We packed everything back up and headed to the new flat which is also very nice except for the wet laundry hanging all over the place. Our host felt bad about the mistake, so he refunded the fee for the night. It was an honest mistake and we told him not to worry about it, but he insisted on giving us the refund. Not going to argue about that.
By the time the move was over it was almost 4pm and the sky had cleared so we walked about 20 minutes to the Old Town. Salamanca was conquered by the Moors who controlled the town for almost 800 years, and we can certainly see the Moorish influence in the architecture. What we’ve seen so far on our trip have been the beautiful colored buildings. These are monochromatic brown, but absolutely beautiful. There’s something about the color and shape of the buildings that works. Everywhere we looked there was another beautiful dome or steeple.
The main things to see here are the University and the Cathedral. They’re virtually next door to each other so we were able to knock them both off the list at the same time. We didn’t get into the University but took some pictures of the building…stunning.
Lynn has seen dozens of Cathedrals all over the world, including St. Peter’s in Rome, but she has never seen anything as beautiful as the Cathedral at Salamanca. The “new” Cathedral was constructed between the 16th and 18th centuries while the “old” Cathedral was built in the 12th and 13th centuries. We were able to see both, and the old Cathedral is in remarkably good condition. Even the frescoes are quite intact.
We took dozens of pictures, and it was difficult to decide which to upload so we’re including a bunch. Some don’t have titles, but these are representative of the things we saw in both Cathedrals.
On our walk back to the flat we stopped for churros and chocolate which is a popular item in this part of Spain. We thought it would be super sweet, but it wasn’t at all; it was quite delicious.
Then it was back to the flat for a light supper. Tomorrow we’re off to Madrid, probably stopping at Avilla on the way.
Enjoy the pictures of the Cathedral.
These are from the Old Cathedral; build 12-13th centuries.
Seriously, consider putting this city on your bucket list; it was well worth the trip. Talk with you tomorrow.
Night.