Day 7
Trip Start
May 14, 2006
1
7
41
Trip End
Aug 17, 2006
Salamonca, Spain
Monday, May 22, 2006
Salamonca, Spain
Here we go again. This town was actually kind of interesting. It's a university town with a lot of history. Saw two cathedrals, a monestary, a convent, old roman bridge that's still in use, an old mansion that's been converted into a library, and last but not least an old plaza.
The bridge and the cathedrals we saw last night when we arrived here. The bridge is kind of neat to see but.... it's a bridge.
There are 2 main cathedrals here in Salamanca. The old one and the new one. The new one is from the 16th century, pretty new huh? and the old one is from the 14th century. The two are adjoining buildings but they aren't connected on the inside.
Went and viewed a convent that was open to the public. It's a .......... well I forget the term, the nun's are closed off from the public. they used to be sealed completely with no interaction with anyone including their families. Stayed in solitude most the day and only spoke with one another for an hour a day. But the vatican changed it's views some time ago and now they are just closed off from the public. I believe they get to see family members like twice a year or something like that. The nuns make money by baking cookies and some other kind of dessert they sell through a rotating wooden window, which allows them to conduct transactions without seeing the person on the other side.
Our accomidations were interesting. They were private dorms. 24 Euro a night, private room, with private bath, and all 3 meals. Not a bad deal for that price. The meals were descent, some of it I didn't care for but I tried most of it.
And the plaza... this was the best part of the town. well there were 2 universities. One private owned by the vatican, and one public. But eh.... the plaza was built a long time ago as the center of the town. All the main roads cross through the plaza. The 3 story structure was originally living quarters, office, and retail space. Now it serves about the same. Although many of the rooms upstairs are still vacant due to the high expense of plumbing renovations. But the bottom floor is filled with restarants, lots of bakeries. Wow the food is good, the pasteries, tarts, everything is delicious, and full of sugar. I've had to start weening myself off the ice cream. It's everywhere and seems to be the staple that makes everything ok for everyone. They will go anywhere if there is ice cream. Anyway the plaza is not full of these shops and merchants and is still used as a huge gathering place. At night the different colleges of the university come out dressed in 16th century clothing and play. Each college has a band and it's a local tradition / competition to have the best band. So this year the law school might have the best. So they would play all over town and people would want to come see them. But..we didnt' get to see them play. It's finals time here so education wise things are kind of quirky
So welcome to salamonca a different kind of place then where we have been so far. Far from the husle and bussel of barcelona.
