Yesterday I went on a day trip through my school to Salamanca. I had been looking forward to it since before last weekend when I purchased the trip, but I unfortunately have been sick all weekend (ugh). Additionally, while Friday’s weather was beautiful (for January) yesterday’s forecast was a solid block of rain and wind.
So that kind of sucked. But this is not meant to be a whiney post! Keep reading! (Please? 
) Despite the weather and my poorly timed infirmity, Salamanca was a very cool place to visit.
It was a dark and stormy morning when my roommate and I left the apartment to catch the metro. It wasn’t raining hard, only sprinkling a bit and so we were fine with umbrellas. When we got off the metro, however, it was an entirely different story. All of a sudden there were seemingly gale-force winds and buckets of cold rain. The umbrellas popped out. We made a run for it. By the time we made it to the bus, my hair was soaked through and my glasses were completely obscured by fog and water. Luckily, we had an over two hour ride in which to dry out.
The first thing we saw upon reaching Salamanca was a bridge. A Roman bridge. As in, thousands of years old. Very cool.
One of the Spanish teachers was along as our guide, and after showing us the bridge (and relating a semi-relevant story about a boy who stole wine) he let us go get coffee. As a caffeine addict, I greatly appreciated this. We walked to a restaurant (Cuatro Gatos, cool name) and had café con leche. Then we spotted a bakery across the way. I had the best chocolate filled croissant of my life.
We met up again to go through the cathedral.
The cathedral was giant inside and had amazing stonework. The façades on the outsides of the doors were very detailed. I can’t imagine how long they took to carve.
Interestingly, one part of the exterior was restored in the 1950s, and the restorers had a sense of humor and current events…spaceman anyone?
After the cathedral we visited el Convento de San. Esteban (Dominicos). Up in the choir loft there were several old song books. These were very cool to see, especially the old music notation!
It was cold and raining but worth it. There was an incredible sense of history just walking through the streets.
It really was amazing, and I’d like to go back someday when the sun is shining so I can explore a bit more.
All in all, I don’t mind the rain, although it is annoying when it disrupts your travel plans. We still managed to make a great day out of it though!
Like the spaceman!