11/06/2024

 

After a nice breakfast and walk around the sun deck we met our bus at 8:30 for the 2 hour drive to Salamanca. We docked in Spain and so technically we were on Spanish time (1 hour ahead of Portuguese time because Franco wanted the same time as Nazi Germany) but our schedule was all on Portuguese time – when we left, met up for the walk-abouts and when we met to return.

 

 

On the way to Salamanca

 

For the first 20 minutes we climbed out of the Douro valley on a very winding road.  Once on top, the road leveled off and we drove through some beautiful green fields.  The trees were cork oak and placed sporadically around.  Cattle were grazing – mostly Charolais but a few brown, and very few black cows.  Some cows had horns and that got Paul to thinking about the bull fights.  We saw no candidate bulls, however.  BTW Shirley won the cow game.

 

You don’t know what the cow game is?  well … As we drive through the country, we count how many cows we see on the right side and the left side.  Whoever is on the right scores the right count and whoever is on the left scores the left count.  When a church is passed on the right, the right count is doubled – same for a church on the left. And … if a graveyard is passed that side’s cows all die and they have to start over.

 

We arrived in Salamanca on time. 

 

 

Entering Salamanca with the UNESCO logo

 

We were dropped off at the Hotel Excelsior and had a second breakfast of coffee, pastry and sandwiches and a WC stop. Refreshed we were ready to adventure.

 

 

Shirley and our guide Diogo (and Portuguese teacher)

 

We walked up a gentle grade to the Plaza de Mayor, the central part of the city.

 

 

The Plaza de Mayor

 

After some general explanations of the city we were allowed free time to wander, shop, eat or whatever.

 

 

Around Salamanca

 

 

Going shopping

 

 

50% off here!  

 

Around the central square there were book stalls selling all manner of used books. Then, in the middle they had arranged a display of all the different ways Alice in Wonderland had been portrayed in the different languages, art and spin-offs.

 

 

Alice display

 

Our two busses were then split up into four groups to continue the tour from the Plaza.  Our first stop was the University of Salamanca, the fourth oldest in Europe (after Bologna, Paris and Oxford). There were many buildings associated with this very active University. We went into one of the oldest to see the different rooms of study.  Although many are no longer used for anything but to awe tourists. There was a room for Theology, another for canon law, and so forth. 

 

 

Room with academic finery

 

Each color denotes specific a discipline. We were told that Blue is for Humanities:

 

 

Blue and the Humanities Master

 

 

After the University tour we went to the Cathedral, a massive building and bell tower that dominated the city.  Apparently, the Lisbon earthquake of 1455 rocked Salamanca to the point that the bell tower is not quite perpendicular but, in fact, leans a bit.

 

The inside was spectacular. It is massively spacious. In the middle of the nave the choir was situated with 2 massive organs.

 

 

The Choir

 

The music for the Choir was in font 245 and on a swivel stand that could rotate 360 degrees. The high altar was not ornate as one would expect, but rather plain albeit massive. 

 

 

The high altar

Upon exiting the cathedral our guide pointed out some of the restoration work. In particular, the architects wanted to depart from the medieval scheme and they put an astronaut in the column next to the entrance façade.

 

 

We then had another 90 minutes of free time.  Shirley and I were a bit hungry and ready to sit and so we found a tapas restaurant (La Lulu) and ate some very tasty tapas.

 

 

Tapas at La Lulu

 

Or bus ride back to the ship was uneventful and we arrived in time to freshen up and proceed to dinner.  Tonight the chefs prepared a Portuguese feast with cornbread encrusted cod, chicken, soup, decadent dessert and custard pastries.  (The pastry chef will teach us how to make them Saturday.)

 

Our evening was topped off with a Flamenco Show by a troupe from Salamanca. They had recorded music but provided a ‘drummer’ who sat on his box and made it sound like a 6 piece set. The two dancers were backed up by a singer.

 

 

Dancing

 

 

The dancers and us

 

By that time we were tired and went back to the cabin and some good sleep.  8243 steps.