Salamanca

Last time I was in Salamanca was in 1997 when I studied abroad for the first time with a high school program. That first Spain experience was what really cemented my love for the language, and I have had a soft spot in my heart for Salamanca ever since. The city is a college town located in Castilla y León, northwest of Madrid and about an hour from the Portuguese border. Alexia also has a soft spot for Salamanca, so we decided to take a weekend trip. The real kicker would have been if my friend Kat had joined us, since she and I have been friends ever since that trip way back in 1997. Unfortunately for us and fortunately for her, Kat started a new job last week (yay Kat!) and couldn't make it.


Going back to Salamanca was surreal. I remembered well the walk from my homestay to the Plaza Mayor, I rediscovered the delicious gelato I'd eat almost daily, I remembered where all the cool bars were (I mean, uh, cafés. Not bars. Hi Mom and Dad!), I even found the steps we had to sit on while Mr. Bileca yelled at us because he'd caught some of the other students drinking. Kat and I remember this well because it was the first (and maybe only) time we'd ever heard a teacher say the F word.


Alexia and I took advantage of the sunny weather by walking all over the place and checking out the gorgeous architecture. There are tons of fun details to search for if you know what you're doing. In addition to the famous frog located on the university's facade, you can also go to the cathedral and check out the lion with an ice cream and the astronaut carved into the doorway. I also really enjoyed exploring the Museo de Art Noveau y Art Deco, which has tons of stained glass windows as well as rooms and rooms of freaky-ass evil porcelain dolls.


Salamanca has been the setting of many works of Spanish literature, including two books I read last semester: Lazarillo de Tormes and La Celestina. Alexia humored me and let me check out the stone bull that Lazarillo gets his head slammed against as well as the garden where Calisto and Melibea have their secret trysts. Salamanca is like a Spanish lit nerd's dream!


When not being all cultural and stuff, we ate. A lot. So many tapas! So many pastries!


Alexia convinced me to take the chorizo al diablo challenge, which involved lighting a chorizo on fire, putting it out, then biting into it with the hope that your challenger's sausage contained the whole cayenne pepper and not yours. But the joke was on us -- the waiter put a pepper in both!


That night we met up with Alexia's friend Ashley, did a tapas crawl, and then headed to Camelot. I have very strong memories of this convent-turned-discoteca from way back when. This time around, we were pretty much the oldest people there. Everyone else seemed to be American undergrads singing along to Lady Gaga and Enrique. But I enjoyed the nostalgia. And the Gaga.

Oh, and I can't forget that Alexia and I unsuccessfully stalked our grammar professor from the summer, the amazingly wonderful Carlos Cabrera. Since he teaches at the Universidad de Salamanca, and we knew in which building, we trespassed on university property searching for his office. No dice. But it was fun being sneaky!


This will be my last trip for awhile since midterms are coming up soon. And then the first set of Spring visitors: Yvonne and Russ!