Salamanca, Spain

Following the amazing time I had in Galicia with this group of crazy ladies, I jumped at the chance to go on a second adventure just a few weeks later. We decided on the quiet, mysterious and gastronomical city of Salamanca. I accompanied the familiar faces of Steph, Lena and Sonia, plus 2 of their American friends (Katie and Lindsay). Salamanca not being difficult to travel to, we decided to take a 3 hour bus instead of driving. We rented 2 rooms in a small hostel inside the Plaza Mayor which was in our budget and paid off later in the night…

Looking at my funds just days previous to us leaving, I realized that this was going to be a very tight trip for me. I considered backing out but realized that I would be missing out on a great opportunity. So after bus fare and hostel costs, I was left with exactly 25 euro to eat and party. You might think I was crazy for attempting this but I knew I could make it happen.

(view from our hostel)

We arrived after what seemed like a short bus ride for me (because I slept the entire way) and hiked from the bus station to our hotel in the city's Casco Antiguo (old center).  I realized quickly that Salamanca isn't as non-Spanish speaking tourist friendly as some of its competing cultural cities.  But all of us knowing Spanish could survive without a problem. 

We arrived at our hostel and checked-in with the guapo South American clerk.  The girls chatted and divided rooms as we freshened up ready to venture out.  Our first stop was CASA PACA,

one of Salamanca's most well-known resturants and tapa stops.  We stood at the bar gazing at the numerous yummy treats that we could choose from, sipping on our vino y cerveza (wine and beer).  After a few drinks and what we considered to be our lunch of tapas, we started off to see the sights.

We casually strolled the streets looking at the ancient buildings that surrounded us, once again amazed by these architectual feats.  Then we came across this building that suddenly stopped me in my tracks.  I stared in a sort of confusion as I tried to place why I knew this particular buiding.  I searched my brain for information from my university days learning about Spanish history and cultural sites.  But I came up blank knowing that of the city Salamanca was never emphasized in any of my college courses.  I started taking pictures of this simple square, white washed building.  Nothing spectacular about it architectually with exception to its facade- it's covered in thousands of tiny stone seashells.  On about my forth snapshot I realized why I knew this building:

Picture me in 9th grade (hard to do because many of you don't know me and can't picture me even now let alone over 10 years ago).  Anyways, I was a highschool freshman starting my first honors spanish class.  My teacher, Mrs. Perez, gave the class an assignment to pick one monument in any Spanish-speaking country to give a short presentation on.  Most people chose Inca/ Mayan temples or famous building throughout Mexico and S. America.  For some reason, I simply googled 'Spanish buildings' and on the top of this list was a building in some small city in Spain called Salamanca.  I remember laughing thinking the city's name sounded like Salmonella (don't judge, I was only 13) Well, not at all interested in this project, I went with this building because it looked cool, all the other cooler monuments were taken and the website I found would be perfect for me to easily write my presentation.  A week later I presented a 5-minute Spanglish speech to my class and about 5-minutes after, I completely forgot about that cool looking building in some E-Coli sounding town in BuFu Spain....

that was until I had dejavu taking photos of La Casa de Conchas.  I suddenly remembered why it seemed vaguely familiar.  This was the building I did that random presentation on 10 years ago.  I stood staring at the building having a moment with myself about how funny life is.  How small moments that seem insignificant can really impact you far in the future.  I had a serious look at my current life and for the first time, really realized how much I've done in my 23 years and how lucky I am to be experiencing these things in real life; not just through crappy presentations I gave when I was thirteen. 

After my little moment, we continued through the streets to the University of Salamanca.  Normally, universities in Spain are nothing to write home about.  But there's something a little special about this one, a legend that surrounds its walls and a superstition that haunts its students. One of the main building entrances has this gorgeous stone carved archway covered in figures, designs, animals, you name it.  You have to stand 30 feet back just to take it all in.  It really is a fascinating sight.  Well, as the legend goes, somewhere in this spectacule is a tiny sitting frog.  No more than 3 or 4 inches big.  As students learn on orientation, if they want to graduate, they must find the little frog.  I heard this story on prior to my arrival and thought, well that sounds stupid! But once I saw this doorway, I knew why this superstition was loved not only by students but also by tourists.  The group of us sat there inventing the best strategies to find this miniscule anphibian for a good 20 minutes until finally we gave up.  Luckily, we met up with one of the girl´s friend who was studying at this particular university.  After we couldn´t take it any longer, she showed us where the little guy was.  I mean SERIOUSLY! But it was good fun.

Can you find it yet????

Yet?????

We continued the tour to the Cathedral and sat down for a few more cañas.  After most of the tourist stuff was finished, we returned to the hostel for a little siesta.  Steph and I ran to the local supermarket to pick up drinks and food for later that evening.  Travelling on a budget we learned a great way to save money is to just buy local food and eat in your hotel.  Same with alcohol, buy a few bottles and mixers; throw on some awesome tunes; dance and drink until you´re more than ´contenta´; then head out to the bars.

That´s exactly what we did.  We planned to have a little dinner picnic in the Plaza Mayor but a short rain shower prevented that.  So we ate, drank, danced and got ready in our room.  Some of the girls were out on the patio smoking when they met our next door neighbors.... 5 gorgeous Basque men.  What are the chances :)

Well they were ready to check out some of the bars so we took a vote between us girls and decided it would be in our best interest to join them.  Well, to not go into too much detail, we all had a great night dancing, talking, destroying Salamanca (party-wise).  I crawled into bed around 5 am exhausted which turned out to be earlier than most of my travel buddies who well watched the sun rise with our new Basque friends.  We exchanged info with one another so if I ever make it to Pais Vasco, I have a few contacts!

The next day, everyone suffering a pretty bad resaca (hangover), we decided to try and catch an earlier bus back to Madrid.  Luckily, I got the last seat on one of the buses that was leaving shortly after.  So I departed from the girls who still had a few hours to wait and wanted some food.  I arrived in Madrid in no time, as I once again slept the entire way back.  Salamanca was a crazy experience for a quick weekend getaway and one that I´ll never forget!