Another long day was in prospect as we were off to Salamanca in Spain today. We were away by 0845 after breakfast and in a fair amount of rainfall. As always, there was provision for a comfort stop about halfway through the two hour journey and we trooped off the bus in what was now just drizzle and into a little cantina. A lot of the locals seemed to have gathered there as if they had never seen rain before and had nowhere else to go.
We did not stay long, but we did get to see evidence of the Iberian fascination for ham! This was a tiny little bar area with a large restaurant to the rear, but an inordinate amount of the space was taken up by meat.
Our journey took us onto a large plateau where there were very few houses or people about, but there were lots of cows, sheep, some horses and black bulls. It was all quite different to the vineyards we had been passing through down on the river.
Soon we were in Salamanca, which is known as the Golden City due to the honey coloured stone used to construct the many fine buildings in the historical centre.
By the time we got off the coach, the rain had more or less stopped and we followed Raquel and our local guide through the streets to our first stop in the city.
She pointed out some of the lovely architecture, with the glazed facades being quite typical.
Our destination was the local market.
Well, it was just awash with hams, fish, fruit and vegetables. People were drinking wine at tiny little counters beside stalls and we were soon to join them. Viking had arranged for a tasting of hams, salami, cheese and bread along with local red and white wine. Very welcome it was too.
We had some free time to look around the market and, of course, to buy the local produce, which we did. Then the guide took us across the street to the enormous and stunning Plaza Mayor,which was built between 1729 and 1755.
On the buildings all around the square are medallions showing important historical figures - royalty, artists, military heroes and the like. If I had been paying attention, I could have told you who this was!
One of the plaques had been removed due to constant vandalism - that of General Franco, the Spanish dictator. He thought he deserved a place with the great and the good, but as soon as he fell from power, the medallion would be vandalised on an almost daily basis. Eventually, a plastic replica was put in place as this was easier to clean. Then they got so fed up cleaning it that they took it down and left the empty space.
The square was quite magnificent, but we had to leave to continue our walk through the city.
Salamanca attracts lots of storks in the summer months and they build pretty big nests at the top of some of the buildings. These might fall and could do you a nasty injury, so the authorities have made these metal baskets for the storks to build their nests in.
We stopped at the famous House of Shells, so called because of all the stone scallop shells built into the facade. They were put there as the house belonged to a doctor at the court of Queen Isabella and he was a Knight of Santiago whose symbol the scallop shell was.
Just nearby is this lovely courtyard.
It wasn't just Franco who was subject to a bit of erasure from history. When benefactors of religious fell from favour, they would soon be overwritten.
The University is the third oldest in the world and you begin to get an idea of that when you see red writing on the walls. This was graffiti made by students when they gained their degree and they used bull's blood. They were proclaiming to the world that they had passed and they could now be a doctor or a lawyer.
The students also seem to have been a bit sensitive and were frequently involved in duels over women. They used the walls to sharpen their blades before a fight and you can still see the marks today.
This violence and duelling was all a bit much for the university, the church and the good people of Salamanca so, duelling was outlawed. That merely pushed it underground and they used their long black capes to hide their swords and walked to the new duelling area here in this quiet little alleyway.
The main facade of the main university building is a fine example of what is known as Plateresque. This derives from the Spanish for silverworking and refers to the rich decoration on buildings that depicted a huge range of symbols in a way not related to the structure of the building. Essentially, the decoration was just that - it had no structural function and so was quite flamboyant. This dates from 1529.
Students were told that they could not graduate as doctors from the university unless they could point out the frog in the carvings!
Here is the frog - on the skull. It is said that the skull represents Prince Juan, who died before he was 20 despite the best efforts of his doctor. The frog represents this Doctor Parra, giving the frog the nickname of Parrita, or little Parra.
From the university to the cathedral, or to be more accurate, cathedrals. Salamanca has two cathedrals, cleverly named the old and the new. The old one is on the right and the entrance to the new one is on the left. They would normally have destroyed the old one when the new was completed, but because one of the walls of the new leans on a wall of the old, the old cathedral was reinforced and remains standing today.
The new cathedral is built in the much more flamboyant Gothic and Baroque styles and was built between 1513 and 1733 - quite a while. The old one was founded in the 12th Century and completed in the 14th. Cathedral building was clearly a time consuming exercise.
You can see here the empty niches where statues fell down during the Lisbon earthquake of 1755. This necessitated some structural repairs to the cathedral.
Further restoration took place in 1992 and the stonemasons decided to incorporate modern decorations. Apparently this is relatively common, but perhaps not so obvious as in this case, where they carved.....
....an astronaut!
There is also a lucky rabbit, which has been polished by many hands giving it a stroke over the years.
Here is one hopeful.
We now had a bit of free time, so went in search of something to eat. Our first choice of tapas bar was a bit of a disaster and we left as soon as we could, chastened by the experience. Our next choice was a nice little place selling freshly made churros and hot chocolate. It was a bit of a joy, given that the weather had turned bit chilly.
Still, the sun came out and it got significantly warmer in the afternoon.
We were met by Raquel in the front of the cathedral and taken for a few minutes walk to an hotel for a very pleasant afternoon tea. Actually, this was more like a lunch - there were sandwiches, cakes, ham and cheese. It was very good indeed and in lovely surroundings - unfortunately I neglected to take any photos!
After that it was onto the coach for a shorter journey to a new mooring where the boat would be waiting for us. Given the food we had just eaten there were a few people who slept for most of the journey.
Of course, by the time we got to the boat it was almost time for dinner, although we did manage a bit of a rest and then a pre-dinner drink in the bar.
Dinner was very nice as usual.
I think we all had the sauteed prawns with garlic, chilli and white wine.
I then had the seared rump steak with crushed potatoes and spinach, which was very good.
This was followed by a rolled orange cake, which was surprisingly cold, but very nice.
Sharon had the apple crumble pie.
From dinner to the bar and a pretty view of the illuminated bridge near our mooring.
There was a nautical Q&A with Captain Placido, who it is alleged looks like George Clooney with a beard. Certainly Sharon and Cindy found him to be very interesting.
After that, most people went to bed, but not us.
There was a bit of dancing to be had and Michael and Cindy led the way with some style.
As always there was the last port of the day and time to retire for the night.
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