Where are John and Kara?: Salamanca, Castile & León, Spain

View of Salamanca across the Rio Tormes

Yay! We are in Madrid and this weekend is our first long weekend in Spain!

This weekend Spain celebrated the feast of the 'immaculate conception'. Briefly, December 8th annually is a day which a large proportion of Catholic's celebrate the birth of the virgin Mary by attending church and then 'feasting'. We like the idea of taking a weekend to feast and so we ventured to one of Spain's oldest gastronomical capitals -Salamanca!

A frosty morning at the New Cathedral (built 16th Century)

Aside for being well know for its local produce and beverages Salamanca is rich in a very long history and is now also a UNESCO world heritage site. It has such a long history that actually its all a bit confusing as to who was where and at what time. However we were told that the city was originally founded pre-Ancient Rome period. From that time and for the next couple of centuries there were an array of sieges/wars and overtakings and the city was occupied by Christian kings, Muslim rulers and other Empires (including the French).

Placio de Anaya

Then during the Spanish Civil War in 1936-1939, Salamanca was Spain's de facto capital by the country's Nationalists.

In the year 1218 Salamanca was granted royal charter to its University of Salamanca (which had been teaching since 1130) and the university became one of the most prestigious and acclaimed within Europe, the wealth and reputation of the city also increased.

The city today is still considered a 'university town' with students making up the a large percentage of population (around 36,000). In fact the city now has the highest bar-to-inhabitant ratio in Europe (synonymous with a large student gathering perhaps?) .

Panoramic of Plaza Mayor by night

As winter is well under way, when we arrived late on Friday evening (via high speed train from Madrid) it was pretty chilly. Our first stop was the Plaza Mayor (above) the beating heart of the old city. This plaza has seen everything, from bull fights, executions, royal balls, markets and is considered one of the most beautiful in Spain. The plaza was built from 1729- 1755 in Spanish baroque style and is really quite stunning.

Mmmm.... Yum!!

Spanish pastries

Our next stop was dinner and so we did the Spanish 'thing' and hopped around several tapa bars! An advantage of heading to a student town were the discounted prices. One large tapa and glass of wine and/or beer costs approx 1-2 euro. Typically you hop to several rather than staying in one place.

Pictured abover is John enjoying a delicious tortilla (potato pie) at the bar.

A popular meat store in the Central Market

Spanish breakfast!

Early the next morning we explored many of the old churches and buildings getting ourselves lost in the old windy cobbled streets. It was very cold so we had regular stops in small family-run stores, sometimes into bakeries to smell the fresh bread and to nibble on a chocolate croissant or into a side street bar just to ponder and enjoy a strong coffee. We found an old market and bought some seasonal Christmas fairy lights to decorate our Madrid flat and Kara spent a ridiculous amount of time trying on an array of leather boots for fun.

We also visited Salamanca's central market (built 1899) where locals came to purchase their produce. (Markets are still a preferred shopping experience for many).

Salamanca is widely known for its top class cured ham (jamon) and the market is a good place to go and try a wide variety of samples, as well as a wide range of fresh produce and dairy products.

Poor little piggies!

Meat! Meat! Meat!

Casa de las Conchas (House of the shells)

Over the next few days we spent our time between exploring the city's bars, 'feasting' on Spanish tapas, and wandering in and out of the old buildings.

We were quite fascinated by the old Roman bridge (built 1st century BC) leading out of the city but probably more so getting our heads around the delicious Spanish wine!