Salamanca
Last Friday I went to a workshop with a Spanish reporter who has spent a lot of time in North and West Africa writing about immigration. There are camps of immigrants all over North Africa where people wait around for the chance to cross borders. Some people spend years trying multiple times to cross the border from Morocco to the Spanish owned coastal enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla or crossing the Strait of Gibraltar by boat. Earlier this week a group of Africans drowned while trying to reach the Canary Islands in small boats. He talked about the history of immigration, his work and about journalism in general.
Later in the afternoon I left for Salamanca – my program had organized a trip for the yearlong students. About 30 of us went on a coach bus with a couple guides. We stopped in a small town in the middle of the Extremadura province, Torrejón del Rubio, on Friday night. The town was tiny and empty. It was nice to see a small Spanish town because I usually only go to big cities when I travel. We walked around the empty streets and stopped at a bar and then went back to our hostel for dinner. We went back out and visited pretty much every bar in town; there wasn’t more than five or six. The town is in the middle of a huge nature preserve. All there is to see there are birds. There happened to be a bird and ecological-tourism convention going on and we met lots of birdwatchers at a pub. They turned out to be a bunch of really fun young Spanish guys; they were the coolest birdwatchers that I’ve ever met.
The next day we drove through the nature preserve and saw some birds and a few big tents where the convention was being held. It was a beautiful place, but really desolate and boring. I’m glad we were only there for one night. We drove through a heavy downpour so we didn’t have high hopes for great weather in Salamanca. We went by a snow-covered ski resort but since it was raining it probably wasn’t a good day to ski. We stayed at a youth hostel in a drab modern suburb of Salamanca, across the river and away from the hill that the old city is built on. When we took the 25-30 minute walk from our hostel to the city it was really windy and then it started to rain… and then hail. We decided to delay our tour of Salamanca for the time being and wait it out in a café. The rain stopped after a short while and then the sun came out. A few of us went souvenir shopping. I got postcards and a t-shirt, Martha happened to call me while I was looking at t-shirts so I got her one too. Everything in Salamanca is really cheap, way cheaper than Sevilla (the University clothing was half what it costs in Sevilla).
We got a quick tour of the city and then had free time to go back and visit whatever we were interested in seeing more of. Salamanca is a compact old city that is easily walkable. There are hardly any cars and every building is made of light colored sandstone. Most of the buildings are plain looking but beautiful. It definitely feels like a campus because it small and walkable and full of students and University buildings. It’s like any large US campus, except with lots of really old churches and Roman buildings. Salamanca was one of the biggest and most important Spanish cities centuries ago. It’s on the Ruta de Plata (Silver Route) – a Roman highway that runs through Sevilla and Salamanca all the way to the northern coast of Spain. The highway we took traces the path of the old Roman road.
We went into the Civil War Archives and saw a collection of original documents and propaganda from the Spanish Civil War. We also went into a convent and bought some cookies and muffins. There are a couple convents in Sevilla that also sell baked goods; I’ll try the places in Sevilla sometime too, those nuns know how to bake. As it got dark we went back to the hostel, buying wine on the way (a bottle of 2000 Rioja red wine is 2.59 euros in Salamanca!) We ended up hanging out, drinking and talking in the hostel and lost track of time. We finally headed out and got our first tapas around midnight. A ración (not a tapa but a huge plate) of potatoes was 2.20! Tapas in Sevilla cost 2-3 euros and raciones are 5-10. Salamanca has a reputation of having some of the best nightlife in Spain and we got a little taste of it. Everyone was young and from all over - Spain, Europe and the US. There were some Americans who where there on their spring break visiting friends and American students from Madrid who came for the weekend. In the early morning hours it started to snow. It was the first time I have seen snow falling in person in Spain.
We walked through streets full of people and every bar was packed. The drinks were of course, dirt-cheap. Because every place was so packed, the bathroom lines were long so some American students we had met took us to their apartment to use their bathroom. Their apartment was big and nice and their rent is lower than what a tiny old apartment would cost in Sevilla. It was interesting to hear about Salamanca from them, most of them were yearlong students and they all complained about the weather. We are spoiled in Sevilla with 70-degree days in February. It had stopped snowing and I walked home with a friend in the freezing cold.
On Sunday we had breakfast at the hostel and then went to see the two main cathedrals (one is a 11th century Roman cathedral and the other is a 15th century Baroque cathedral). Since it was Sunday there was mass going on in both. We also saw a cave in the city and learned about some of the history of the city and the university. The first universities in Europe were founded in the late 12th century. The first four European universities were, in order, Bologna, Paris, Oxford and Salamanca. On our tour we learned a lot about the school and all its old traditions. A lot of stuff is no longer practiced, like the tradition of students hosting a bullfight in Plaza Mayor to celebrate their graduation and then writing on the city’s walls with the bull’s blood. The sandstone façade of the main university building is covered in ornate carvings and there is a little frog carved into the wall. If you are able to find the frog with out any help you are supposed to get married within a year and if you find it with help it brings good luck. It’s almost impossible to spot; some people spend hours looking for it. I found it with some help, so thankfully I won’t be getting married any time soon.
On the way back to Sevilla, it was warm and sunny while we had a six-hour ride on a bus. We stopped in the afternoon and had a picnic lunch in the parking lot of a truck stop. Soon after eating our ham and cheese bocadillos, two semi-trucks hauling dozens of fat smelly pigs pulled up. They were crammed in little compartments in the trailer, probably off to the slaughterhouse.
I’m going to Sierra del Norte this weekend, about an hour northwest of Sevilla. It’s another free trip with my program. I am going to get some pictures from the Salamanca trip and carnaval weekend from other people so I’ll post pictures once I share pictures with other students and get theirs.
Later in the afternoon I left for Salamanca – my program had organized a trip for the yearlong students. About 30 of us went on a coach bus with a couple guides. We stopped in a small town in the middle of the Extremadura province, Torrejón del Rubio, on Friday night. The town was tiny and empty. It was nice to see a small Spanish town because I usually only go to big cities when I travel. We walked around the empty streets and stopped at a bar and then went back to our hostel for dinner. We went back out and visited pretty much every bar in town; there wasn’t more than five or six. The town is in the middle of a huge nature preserve. All there is to see there are birds. There happened to be a bird and ecological-tourism convention going on and we met lots of birdwatchers at a pub. They turned out to be a bunch of really fun young Spanish guys; they were the coolest birdwatchers that I’ve ever met.
The next day we drove through the nature preserve and saw some birds and a few big tents where the convention was being held. It was a beautiful place, but really desolate and boring. I’m glad we were only there for one night. We drove through a heavy downpour so we didn’t have high hopes for great weather in Salamanca. We went by a snow-covered ski resort but since it was raining it probably wasn’t a good day to ski. We stayed at a youth hostel in a drab modern suburb of Salamanca, across the river and away from the hill that the old city is built on. When we took the 25-30 minute walk from our hostel to the city it was really windy and then it started to rain… and then hail. We decided to delay our tour of Salamanca for the time being and wait it out in a café. The rain stopped after a short while and then the sun came out. A few of us went souvenir shopping. I got postcards and a t-shirt, Martha happened to call me while I was looking at t-shirts so I got her one too. Everything in Salamanca is really cheap, way cheaper than Sevilla (the University clothing was half what it costs in Sevilla).
We got a quick tour of the city and then had free time to go back and visit whatever we were interested in seeing more of. Salamanca is a compact old city that is easily walkable. There are hardly any cars and every building is made of light colored sandstone. Most of the buildings are plain looking but beautiful. It definitely feels like a campus because it small and walkable and full of students and University buildings. It’s like any large US campus, except with lots of really old churches and Roman buildings. Salamanca was one of the biggest and most important Spanish cities centuries ago. It’s on the Ruta de Plata (Silver Route) – a Roman highway that runs through Sevilla and Salamanca all the way to the northern coast of Spain. The highway we took traces the path of the old Roman road.
We went into the Civil War Archives and saw a collection of original documents and propaganda from the Spanish Civil War. We also went into a convent and bought some cookies and muffins. There are a couple convents in Sevilla that also sell baked goods; I’ll try the places in Sevilla sometime too, those nuns know how to bake. As it got dark we went back to the hostel, buying wine on the way (a bottle of 2000 Rioja red wine is 2.59 euros in Salamanca!) We ended up hanging out, drinking and talking in the hostel and lost track of time. We finally headed out and got our first tapas around midnight. A ración (not a tapa but a huge plate) of potatoes was 2.20! Tapas in Sevilla cost 2-3 euros and raciones are 5-10. Salamanca has a reputation of having some of the best nightlife in Spain and we got a little taste of it. Everyone was young and from all over - Spain, Europe and the US. There were some Americans who where there on their spring break visiting friends and American students from Madrid who came for the weekend. In the early morning hours it started to snow. It was the first time I have seen snow falling in person in Spain.
We walked through streets full of people and every bar was packed. The drinks were of course, dirt-cheap. Because every place was so packed, the bathroom lines were long so some American students we had met took us to their apartment to use their bathroom. Their apartment was big and nice and their rent is lower than what a tiny old apartment would cost in Sevilla. It was interesting to hear about Salamanca from them, most of them were yearlong students and they all complained about the weather. We are spoiled in Sevilla with 70-degree days in February. It had stopped snowing and I walked home with a friend in the freezing cold.
On Sunday we had breakfast at the hostel and then went to see the two main cathedrals (one is a 11th century Roman cathedral and the other is a 15th century Baroque cathedral). Since it was Sunday there was mass going on in both. We also saw a cave in the city and learned about some of the history of the city and the university. The first universities in Europe were founded in the late 12th century. The first four European universities were, in order, Bologna, Paris, Oxford and Salamanca. On our tour we learned a lot about the school and all its old traditions. A lot of stuff is no longer practiced, like the tradition of students hosting a bullfight in Plaza Mayor to celebrate their graduation and then writing on the city’s walls with the bull’s blood. The sandstone façade of the main university building is covered in ornate carvings and there is a little frog carved into the wall. If you are able to find the frog with out any help you are supposed to get married within a year and if you find it with help it brings good luck. It’s almost impossible to spot; some people spend hours looking for it. I found it with some help, so thankfully I won’t be getting married any time soon.
On the way back to Sevilla, it was warm and sunny while we had a six-hour ride on a bus. We stopped in the afternoon and had a picnic lunch in the parking lot of a truck stop. Soon after eating our ham and cheese bocadillos, two semi-trucks hauling dozens of fat smelly pigs pulled up. They were crammed in little compartments in the trailer, probably off to the slaughterhouse.
I’m going to Sierra del Norte this weekend, about an hour northwest of Sevilla. It’s another free trip with my program. I am going to get some pictures from the Salamanca trip and carnaval weekend from other people so I’ll post pictures once I share pictures with other students and get theirs.
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