Stylish Salamanca

Monday 10 March
Hello from a bright and sunny (though a tad chilly) Salamanca, a classy, scholarly city in the Castilla y León region.  Salamanca is north of Cáceres and slightly northwest of Madrid.  It is famed for Spain's top drawer University - easily on par with the UK's Oxford - so it is a young and vibrant city awash with students.  It is also famous for its architecture, much of it in local sandstone.  The design and craftsmanship is truly inspired with incredibly detailed carvings, flourishes and towers.  Salamanca has not one, but two cathedrals - one inside the other!  The Catedral Vieja (Old Cathedral) nestles inside the Catedral Nueva (new Cathedral).  However, the Cathedral Nueva is 200+ years old and an elegant and grand old dame she is.  I think it is our favourite Cathedral to date, with Malaga and Zaragoza cathedrals being close runners up. 

My interest in Salamanca began when I started learning Spanish and saw a photo in my text book of the Plaza Mayor and thought how beautiful it was, so much so that it has stuck with me for all those (many) years so its amazing to be here at last! For us it is the most beautiful plaza we've seen in Spain (and France) so I'll cut the chit chat!  

Tuesday 11 March

Plaza Mayor.  Our apartment is great and a stone's throw from the Plaza Mayor so first stop after checking in was a walk around this buzzing centro.  It is pedestrianised so no bother from passing traffic other than the odd road cleaner.  The architecture is stunning and in pristine condition, amazing as it was built between 1729 and 1755.  It is very easy on the eye and is true Baroque style: symmetrical, etc.  The Plaza's perimeter is full of cafes, restaurants, bars and heladerías (ice cream bars), each of which provide neat arrangements of tables enabling clients to follow the sun or seek the shade!  Interestingly there are no street performers or buskers here, unlike many other plazas in Spain.

The Plaza Mayor is also known for a series of sandstone medallions of current and former dignitaries, including the controversial inclusion of Franco whose medallion was worn by years of continuous graffiti.  In the end they had to replace it with an easily cleaned plastic medallion!  Interestingly, corridas (bull fights) were held here as recently as 1992.

The beautiful Plaza Mayor

Casa de las Conchas
This lovely building, now home to the public library is a much loved icon in Salamanca and you can see why.
The original owner was a member of the Order of Santiago whose symbol is the scallop shell.

Casa de las Conchas

Cathedrals
Just when we thought we'd seen enough cathedrals I (rather than Mick!) was enticed by the write up in the Lonely Planet so off we went to take a look at this beautiful Cathedral.  Photos rarely capture the grandeur but here we go:

Cathedral Nueva

Puerta de Nacimiento, Catedral Nueva

Once inside, you access the Old Cathedral.  Much of the interior was destroyed by an earthquake in 1755 which created a fire.  This altarpiece has 53 panels representing biblical scenes including the Final Judgment.  The Lonely Planet says its one of the finest outside of Italy - we say its spectacular!

15thC altarpiece, Catedral Vieja

Here's a piccie of one of Europe's oldest organs, housed in the Anaya Chapel, Old Cathedral:

16thC organ, Catedral Vieja

Unusually, you can climb the tower for some elevated interior views and, further up there are more stairs - controlled by a traffic light system! - to a viewing balcony and some stunning panoramic views.

Aerial View of Cathedral Nueva

Pure baroque & gothic - view from upper balcony

View from Cathedral of River Tormes and city

After all that activity we fancied some tapas at El Banda, a great little restaurant just off the Plaza Mayor.  Mick has developed a taste for the delicious juevos rotos (broken fried eggs with jamon, served on a bed of potatoes) whilst I fancied being a bit adventurous with my tapas and chose tosta con solomillo, foie con una salsa de vino tinto (little toast topped with iberico fillet, foie and red wine sauce) and tosta con magret de pato con mermeleda de higos (little toast topped with duck fillet and fig marmalade) - absolutely divine!  Cathy will be over the moon that I eventually tried one of her favourites, solomillo with foie!  El Banda is a great little bar and popular with the Spanish - we would recommend it for inventive tapas in a traditional environment.

Wednesday 12 March

University Civil.  I know some of you will balk at this but we really didnt' fancy going inside the old Uni even though it houses one of the oldest libraries in Europe.  It is also famed for a somewhat controversial professor but, at euro 10pp we thought it was a tad steep.  Much more interesting was its facade - and the eternal search for the endearing frog within the detailed carvings.  We found it - although its the strangest looking frog we've seen!  Apparently, superstitious students to this day believe that if they find the frog they will get good grades and even marry within a year!

The facade of the Old University

Convento de las Dueñas was recommended by a local chap we bumped into.  It is a working, Dominican Convent with a beautiful cloister.  What strikes you when you pass through its heavy oak door into the courtyard - which opens into a small mews - is the peace and tranquillity a mere stone's throw from a busy road.  The grounds were immaculate and it was a pleasure to have the place to ourselves for a while.

The Cloister, Convento de las Duenas

Today we had lunch at Meson Cervantes, a fabulous traditional Castillano restaurant in the Plaza Mayor where we bagged a window seat upstairs for great views.

Mick with Don Quijote & Sancho @ Meson Cervantes

We ventured out a little later for some evening shots.  

The beautiful Convento de San Esteban

The unforgettable Plaza Mayor

And that about sums up our brief trip to Salamanca.  We really enjoyed our time here and would recommend a short trip here.  I can't believe we're into our last week in Spain - absolutely gutted!  Still, I know we're fortunate to have done this at all so I can't complain - much!  So, next stop is Madrid (or Madread as Mick calls it - he's not a fan of big cities!) where we'll base ourselves to visit Segovia and Cuenca so, until the next post, buenas noches!