Salamanca, a real jewel

The city of Salamanca is one the real jewels of Spain. It features a nicely walkable old town, an absolutely stunning central plaza, and a vibrant culture courtesy of one of Europe's oldest universities.

I arrived here in early afternoon, and fairly quickly found what was to be the cheapest accomodations I stayed at: for 12 (twelve) euro, a single bedroom with shared bath. I had meals that cost more than this several times in my travels.

Along the way, I caught a glimpse of the Plaza Mayor.
It's an imperfect panorama stitch job, but you get to see three sides of it.


This is a wonderful place to have a nice (if a bit overpriced) drink or meal, and just watch life unfold. The sandstone from which most of Salamanca is built is really neat stuff, and changes color as the day progresses.

There's also a bull on the flagpole.


I spent hours walking the city, drinking in the architecture and the colors. I was reminded in some ways of Bath in England, which is almost all made of limestone in a somewhat similar color.



I also paid a brief visit into one of the cathedrals in town (there are actually several large churches, and I could never quite get straight which one was which).



One evening I was watching the sunset near one of the cathedrals when I witnessed a really cool phenomenon. As you can see, many buildings have small spires all over their tops. In the evening, flocks of heron (or other long-legged waterfowl, I'm not sure what) would circle about, still riding available thermals, and eventually settle down in various places on the roofs and spires of the buildings. By the time the show was done, it seemed like every spire had grown a bit longer, and a careful look might have been needed to see that the bird on top was not actually part of the building.

I didn't have the camera along when this happened. Ah well.

As previously mentioned, Salamanca is the site of one of Europe's oldest universities, founded in 1218. The original building housing the university is now a museum, and is home to some nice tilework.


The only other thing of note I went to (there are a wealth of convents and monasteries that are open in some degree or other, into which I did not go) was the Museo Casa Lis, home to a fascinating collection of Art Noveau and Art Deco work. No pictures from the inside (not allowed...), but even the outside merited a few snaps.


While I was in Salamanca, I undertook a daytrip to Ciudad Rodrigo.