My first stop after settling into the hotel was lunch in Plaza Mayor , considered one of the most beautiful plazas in Spain. It´s pretty picturesque, I´ll give it that. Not only that, but the people-watching is prime there. After I finished lunch (about 4pm), I decided to set out and start my tour of the city. My meandering first took me to Plazuela de las Úrsulas, a little plaza with a statue of Miguel de Unamuno, a Spanish literary guy who worked in a whole bunch of genres. The streets in this area are small and windy, so I wandered a bit before I hit the next ``major´´ destination (these little spots hardly seem to qualify as major since they are so quaint, but whatever): Casa de las Conchas (House of Shells). Although the building now serves as a public library, like everything else in Spain there is, indeed, much more history entrenched in it. Way back when, somewhere in the 15th century, the owner of the house created the house either to honor the famous pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela (pilgrims traditionally wore shells along their journey) or to honor his wife, whose family shield was decorated with scallops. (There are many sandstone shells attached to the front of the building.) The inside of the building wasn´t so interesting, as it´s just a library now.
Across from the Casa de las Conchas is La Clerecía, also called La Universidad Pontificia. This building (founded in 1611) is unaffiliated with the real University of Salamanca (established in 1218), and since you couldn´t explore it on your own, I decided to forego the tour and be content with my imagination, stemming from the pictures I got from the outside.
Next up? The Catedral Nueva . I figured, since it took 220 years to build the darn thing (1513-1733), I might as well take a few minutes to check it out. It was pretty impressive (both from the outside and the inside), and in the Capilla del Santisimo Sacramento inside the cathedral, there was a martyr´s chopped off hand/arm in glass casing. Kind of neat, in a weird way. Not the kind of thing *I* would put in a glass casing, but once I realized what it was, I will admit, I did think, ``ew....neat.´´
I didn´t think it was necessary to pay an entrance fee to see the Catedral Vieja after that (the newer cathedral was free), so I left the cathedral area and continued on my way, eventually ending up at the Puente Romano, a 2000-year-old Roman bridge that was used frequently during the Roman occupation of Spain. One side of the bridge is marked by a headless granite bull called the Toro Ibérico (not very photogenic), who apparently became famous in the 16th century picaresque novel Lazarillo de Tormes.
After walking across the bridge and back, I went in search of the Universidad de Salamanca. My taxi driver told me that the city would be dead if it weren´t for the university students, as that is who makes up the population of Salamanca. Now that I have personal experience in the city, it seems to me that the city is made up of, as he said, the students, and another group of people: those who were around when the university was established (1218). And maybe a few age groups in between. When I did my personal tour of the university, I found that many of the rooms are named after scholars -- Fray Luis de León, Miguel de Unamuno, etc. I also went into the library, but you can´t go in too far because the doorway is encased in glass or something. Still, you could see the layout of one of Europe´s oldest libraries, and I found out (from a woman who was giving a private tour to this other girl) that there is this big door in the library (she pointed out which one) behind which there is a big vault with rare copies of books, and that door is only opened when famous people or ``somebodies´´ want to see what´s behind the door. I bet it´s the Spanish copies of Harry Potter.
When I left the university, I ended up going to a museum by accident because I thought that´s where this one fresco was that I wanted to see. It was the Museum of Salamanca. As the conversations usually go, I went in and said, ``Student.´´ They said, ``Are you studying in Salamanca?´´ I said, ``Yes, now I am.´´ (The parenthetical comment in my head was, ``Well, I am studying the people, the food, the rhythm, etc.´´) So he asked for my student ID, which I promptly handed over
Saturday, I decided to take a different approach to checking out Salamanca. I thought that since I already did what I wanted to do in terms of ``touring´´ the city, I was going to pick a sidestreet leading out of Plaza Mayor (there are many) that I hadn´t gone on yet and just see where I ended up. So, after not much thought, I selected my sidestreet and followed it until the walk-sign said walk, so I walked. Then there was a light, so I turned...etc. etc. etc., and what do you know? I ended up at a pedestrian street (read: shopping street)! This was horrible news because I am in the land of the €euro€ but great news because I successfully navigated my way to pedestrian streets (which I so dearly love) without a map or asking anyone when I had no set destination in mind. And besides, since I had no agenda, it was a good surprise to arrive somewhere where there were lots of things to do, even if it was just looking (and most of it was). I followed that street to the end, where, strangely enough, I ended up at Plaza Mayor, on a different street from the one I started on. I guess, when in Salamanca, all roads lead to Plaza Mayor.
Since it was another one of those days (but not one of ``those´´ days) where there was not a cloud in the sky, I picked up lunch and sat outside in Plaza Mayor, people-watching, as there was no better activity to do at that hour. Where else could you see a group of guys walk by where one was dressed in a bull costume and they all staged a bullfight? Or perhaps you were in the mood to see a group of guys walk by, one clad in a small red dress, high heels and clutching a red handbag. Nope, this is prime-time entertainment. Price? Nothing. Exchange rate? Doesn´t matter.
After walking around town a little bit more, I ended up deciding that Plaza Mayor was just the place to be, so I found my way back there (not a difficult task) and stayed there the better part of the afternoon/evening, accomplishing many things: people-watching, siesta-ing (it´s true -- and it was incredibly comfortable), eating, sitting, etc. Sometimes the best way to get to know a place is to not go anywhere at all.
Tomorrow, I leave Castilla y León, the province within which lies Salamanca, and head for Andalucía, specifically for the city of Málaga. It´s been a long time since I´ve been near the beach, so I figured it was time to change that!
Slowly but surely (yeahyeah, ``don´t call me Shirley´´), beach-weather is coming back. Brazil? Brazil weather, are you here?
missy
http://andsmilestogobeforeisleep.blogspot.com
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