My hostal is actually located in the Plaza Mayor and I love the location. For only 17 euros a night, it's such am amazing deal! The Plaza Mayor was built between 1729 and 1755 and some say it's Spain's most beautiful plaza. Even though I've only see plazas in two cities so far, I would have to agree. They even held bullfights in this plaza into the 19th Century! As soon as the sun went down, I wondered back outside to see the plaza illuminated. At 10:20 p.m., with just a little bit of daylight left in the sky, lights across the plaza suddenly came on as hundreds of people began clapping in unison. Some were sitting at tables eating tapas and others were sitting on the plaza square eating McDonalds out of a paper bag ... but everyone was clapping. I'll attach a few pictures that I took around 10:25 p.m.
After checking into the hostal and chatting with a few of the employees (very nice people!), I found a restaurant just off the Plaza Mayor. I met a Spanish professor from the United States who gave me some great tips on places to see this afternoon. I also met another man who works at a university in Miami, Fla., but who is originally from El Salvador. We chatted for about an hour about El Salvador and traveling in general. He was surprised to hear that my friend Jason and I were in El Salvador last summer, as he said he had never met anyone who had traveled there for vacation.
After lunch (a great pizza ... I was craving Italian food since I haven't been to CASA! in about a month), I took a 30-minute guided tourist train tour of the city to get a feel for the area. One of the first buildings we saw was the University of Salamanca. The university here was founded in 1218 and famous Spanish author Miguel de Unamuno was even the school's rector in 1900. (I actually saw Unamuno's house as I was walking around this afternoon.). The university is the oldest in Spain and one of the oldest throughout Europe. Today, about 40,000 students take classes there. Many students from the United States come to Salamanca to study. In fact, there is even a program here for Spanish teachers who want to get their master's degree in Spanish.
Afterward, we saw Salamanca's Catedral Nueva (new cathedral), which was constructed between the 16th and 18th Centuries. It was built in gothic style and has a tower that is 341 feet high. The church's dome is visible from almost anywhere in Salamanca, and I used that as my point of reference as I walked around today. Located nearby is the Catedral Vieja (old cathedral) from the 13th Century, which is Romanesque style. It has some 53 panels that show the life of Christ and Mary.
Later during the tour, we saw a Roman bridget from the 1st Century that has 26 arches. Fifteen of them are from the Roman time while the other 11 were reconstructed in the 17th Century. Nearby we also saw a statue of the blind man and Lazarillo from the classic Spanish novel "Lazarillo de Tormes," one of many short stories I had to read in my Spanish 401 class at Ball State: History of Spanish Literature, along with Unamuno's work!
There were several other highlights on the tour, and it gave me a great overview of this city. I spent the next couple of hours exploring Salamanca on foot and marveling at its beauty! Afterward I grabbed a light dinner before coming back to write and then going back out to see the iluminated Plaza Mayor. My picture just doesn't do it justice.
(I actually took two tours of Salamanca today. Instead of taking a taxi from the bus terminal to my hotel, I decided to take the city bus to Plaza Mayor. When I got on the bus, I asked the driver if he could tell me which stop I should get off at to walk to the Plaza Mayor. Well, he forgot and we passed the stop. About 10 minutes later, he remembered! The route was a loop so we were back to the stop about 20 minutes later. It gave me a good panoramic view of Salamanca The driver apologized about three times but I kept telling him not to worry because my plan all along was to explore the city today!)
Tomorrow, I'm off to Leon as I continue to make my way north to Oviedo. Madrid has been so hot since I arrived, so the cooler temperatures I experienced today were a welcome sign. I tried to buy my bus ticket as soon as I got off this morning but the man at the ticket counter said I couldn't purchase it until the day of departure. "Llega 15 minutos antes" ... just arrive 15 minutes before it is scheduled to leave. There is only one bus tomorrow that has direct service to Leon, so I think I'll arrive a little earlier than 15 minutes just to be safe. I also hadn't heard back about the hostal I tried to reserve in Leon online, so I called today and discovered they hadn't received my information. So, I made the reservation over the phone. I couldn't find a place to make local calls but someone I met while I was out walking around let me use his phone. The people here really are so friendly.
Hasta pronto!
--Justin
Pedestrian streets in Salamanca.
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