Salamanca: The City of Cathedrals and Clubs

Welcome all,

Greetings from Salamanca.  The last two days have been crazy and hectic.  Yesterday, I left with the people that I have been traveling with from Cordoba and took a Renfe train to Madrid.  From the train station in Madrid, we had to take a metro to the Chamartin station.  From Salamanca, we took a train that lasted about 4 hours to get to Salamanca.  It included 4-5 stops and seemed like a never ending trip.  After we arrived in Salamanca, we headed from the bus station to our hotel, which was on the other side of the city.  We then unpacked and headed out to get a bearing of the city.

For anyone who does not follow European soccer, the Champions League final was between Barcelona and Manchester United. The game started at 8:45 pm in Spanish time (6 hours ahead of East Coast time) and we separated for the night.  They went off to find a laundry location in Salamanca (only to find out that it was closed on Saturdays and Sundays), and went to a 50s themed diner for dinner.  I went off to a hole in the wall cafe/bar near the Plaza Mayor in the city center.  I ran into some natives of the city and watched the whole game within their shop, enjoying a "chocolate con nata" and a piece of a cheesecake tart.  It was a great atmosphere and I was even asked to sit in on a manifestation held within a local plaza.  It was a great night: Barcelona won 3-1 versus Manchester United and I was able to enjoy the Salamanca culture from a different and unique perspective.

Today, we went walking throughout the city and visited multiple sites within the city: the University of Salamanca, the Catedral of Salamanca, the Cueva of Salamanca, Plaza Mayor, Convento de San Esteban, the General Archives of Salamanca, and the Colegio de Anaya.  It was a great day for taking photos and we finished off the day by stopping off by a local restaurant.  We finished off the walk by getting some gelatos/pastries on our walk back to the hotel.

Tomorrow, we will heading out in the morning to Madrid for a couple days.  June 2, I will be in Barcelona.
FC Barcelona, Campiones de Europa!!! Visca Barca!