Salamanca...full of history!

Salamanca was so much fun because 1. I had been there before so I somewhat knew where things were, 2. I was in Castilla-Leon (the autonomía where Valladolid is and where pure castellano is spoken), and 3. Almost my whole group (except Michael & Jairo-typical) went to Salamanca so it was really fun for all of us to be together (until the 2nd day when some started getting sick of others). Salamanca was really cold because of where it is located and it was 8 degrees Celsius colder than in Santander.

We were in Salamanca from Friday, Nov. 21, to Sunday, Nov. 23. On Sunday, we got back early so that we could ALL go to a FREE Racing Santander game (fútbol). Friday we left at 9am and luckily Carmen asked our professors for the day off so we didn´t miss any school...woo hoo! We got to Salamanca around 1:30 (it doesn´t take too long to get there, but we had to have a café break). On the bus ride we watched Harry Potter in español and Sheila and I talked about the movie and the books almost the whole ride down. Good times :D !

So when we arrived in Salamanca I was so relieved that we were in a nice hotel and that all of us were on the same floor so we were able to visit each others rooms and such. Hayley, Emily, Sheila, Naomi and I decided to go out and get some lunch (since it was around 2 already). We ended up going to this really nice café in la Plaza Mayor. Plaza Mayor was so much fun; it had a sculpture exhibition in the center of the plaza with some very interesting sculptures (you'll see). After lunch we walked around the streets near our hotel and found a pet store with 4 adorable puppies sleeping in one of the windows! We returned to the hotel to go on a tour given by the best Spanish guide I've ever had...Carmen!
Las chicas majas! Hayley and I
The beautiful Plaza Mayor.
The sharpay aka "wrinkles" is my favorite!

Carmen took us to see la Casa Universitaria which hundreds of years ago used to be the main Universidad de Salamanca where famous Spanish writers and historians taught and studied. Now it is used more like a museum with all the original furniture and decorations. It was really neat to see. Then we walked outside of the building and looked at the wonderful sculptures on the front of the university. There is a legend that if you find the frog among the sculptures, you will pass you exams and graduate. Some also say that you will return to Spain (I found it three years ago...I guess the legend is true!). It was fun to see the other people in my group trying to find the frog...it is so difficult and you have to stand at the door for a long time before you can find it. After the University tour, Carmen took us to Plaza Mayor (because some hadn't gone yet) and told us of places to eat and pointed out some good bars and discotecas (dance clubs) to go to. :D
Plaza Mayor with the "Marie Antoinette" like sculptures.
Casa Universitaria. You can't see the frog in this picture, but it is on top of a skull on the column that sticks out on the right side and the second row that sticks out from the bottom.

I, and some other people from my group, decided to walk down some of the streets of Salamanca to look at the shops. Later, we decided to go get some Mexican food which ended up being delicious. We sat at a large table (there were 8 of us) and we were placed right underneath a large flat screen TV that was playing crappy telenovelas...not cool. The people I went to dinner with decided to go out to the bars and for the first time (well Thursday night I went out with three girls in Santander, but only until 2am) this trip I decided to stay out late. Before we went out we took a short siesta so we were rested and then headed out to the bars around 12 am. I'll just say I didn't really drink...we were out until 5am (like true Spaniards) and I had a really good time with the people I was with.
Camelot: the discoteca that played non-stop techno music...gag me. The funny thing is that the owners lease the place from a church!
(on top) Me, Hayley, Emily, Spencer and (on bottom) Shannon, Megan and Tyler in the street!
Corie (San Diego), Shannon, Emily and I.

Saturday we spent the morning on a tour with Carmen. She took us to see the two cathedrals: La Antigua y La Nueva. Salamanca is the only city (besides one other in the Philippines) in the world that has two cathedrals. The reason a city in the Philippines has two cathedrals is because King Felipe II (?) built the two cathedrals in both cities. The cathedrals were beautiful and I had really enjoyed going into them because I had never been able to before. We also saw the outside of the Convento de San Esteban, which is a good example of barroque (I think) architecture. After, we had free time.

Emily and I both read Lazarillo so we wanted to see the historic places in Salamanca that were talked about in the novel. The cool thing about Spanish writers is that they include real facts and places in their novels, whether the actual story is true or not, so you can go to a city and see what the writer is talking about. We went down to the Rio Tormes (which is where Lazarillo was born, hence his name Lazarillo de Tormes), we also saw the statue of a bull made out of rock which the blind man used to trick Lazarillo. The blind man told Lazarillo to put his ear against the rock and listen for a sound. As soon as Lazarillo did that, the blind man hit Lazarillo's head really hard against the rock. He told Lazarillo he did this because he always needs to be prepared and be smarter than the rest to be a good guide. Anyway, it was interesting to me. Also, they had a statue of "el ciego y Lazarillo".
El ciego y Lazarillo.
The bull made of stone.
A view of the Nueva Catedral.

Emily and I then looked at some stores so she could get some souvenirs and then we caught up with Megan and just wandered around. We ended up taking a siesta (mine for 2 1/2 hours!!!). And then I went to dinner with the same people that I went out to the bars with. After dinner we walked around for a little bit and then decided to get some gelato...yuuuuuum. We got back to our hotel around 1am.

On Sunday morning we got up early and left for Santander again to go to the game. EVERYONE slept on the bus because of how exhausted we were from the trip.

RACING SANTANDER!
The game was so much fun. More so because almost everyone in our group was there and we were having a blast (Naomi and Jairo didn't come). Shannon and I were the only ones that displayed team spirit by buying the team's scarf (even though I don't care for the team since they are not very good, I wanted a souvenir). We all had fun and luckily it only rained on us for 10 minutes and then it cleared up. Racing played against Espanyol (a Barcelona team....ACK!) and Santander beat them 3-0!!! It was very exciting. Carmen's boyfriend, Javier, came too so I talked to him a little about Real Madrid because he's a Real fan too...hehe...I love futbol! Anyway, I think that's about it. Oh, when you look at the Santander futbol stadium and compare it to Madrid's you'll notice a huge difference. 1. Madrid is much richer, 2. Santander has only been in 1st division for 4 years and 3. Madrid's stadium is 3 times as large!
Racing is in white.
Javier and Carmen!
Shannon and I showing our Racing spirit!
The girls club: Shannon, Hayley, Jordan, Me, Emily and Megan. Don't we look so cozy.
I hope all of you are well and I send hugs and kisses to all of you! I will write again soon!
Besitos! :)