Long Weekend Adventuring - #3 Salamanca in one day, without kids!
First off let me just say that while I am not generally a fan of massive photo editing, Salamanca is a highly photographed place. In order to give the photos my own signature I created a look I liked, that I'd want to print out and hang on my wall and have my new DC friends say "oh wow, is that a painting? where is that? beautiful!". I still might do a few more edits... anyway. Away we go!
Our friend Laura came over to watch the boys for us on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon. We were headed out to Salamanca (a 2 hour drive) by 1pm, looking all snazzy, but still comfortable for the walking ahead. The first place we visited was the Plaza Mayor. In this university town were hundreds of college kids basking in the sun. We even saw a couple guys playing jenga... no tables, no chairs, just the stone streets of the square. It was pretty stinkin' awesome. Spanish lunch time is from 2-4 and it was already 3 so we needed to find someplace to eat fairly quickly. I didn't want to eat in the town center because generally it's more expensive and not that great anyway. We did a lot of walking and finally stumbled upon a Greek place called Thassos... AMAZING! I sure missed Greek food.
By time we finished eating it was 4:45. All the museums and monuments generally close at 5pm, 5:30 on the weekends. I was really looking forward to Ieronimus: the old gothic cathedral tower tour. If I had been able to just walk to the old cathedral and go straight to the ticket booth we probably would have made it, but NooOOoOOOOoooo... I had to take pictures of everything. The baroque Church of La Clerecia and the "freckled" Casa de Las Conchas were staring each other down. The church is now host to the Pontifical University, and the Casa is a public library. The Convento de San Esteban was built by the Dominican friars in the 16th century, masses are still held in every church.
The Catedral Nueva (New Cathedral) is so massively impressive. It was built because apparently the original Cathedral just wasn't impressive enough? You can see both cathedrals' bell towers when you look up from the Convent of San Esteban. The inside of the new cathedral was extravagant, beautiful... and it reminded me a lot of the cathedral in Segovia. I love gothic and mudejar architecture though so bring on the cathedrals! Here's a fun tidbit for you: did you know the euro notes depict different centuries of architecture? True story.
We spent the rest of our time walking and talking, stopping to drink coffee and Irish beer along the way. The Irish college in Salamanca means there are plenty of pubs to choose from with Murphy's on tap... there's also coffee with Bailey's :) As the sun set we made our way back to the car so I could drop my camera off. I was done taking pictures. The ones I had taken were enough and I wasn't feeling creative. A couple more shots as lights came on, and then it was just me and my baby :)
Wonderful date. Day dates are the best. Thanks again Laura!
Our friend Laura came over to watch the boys for us on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon. We were headed out to Salamanca (a 2 hour drive) by 1pm, looking all snazzy, but still comfortable for the walking ahead. The first place we visited was the Plaza Mayor. In this university town were hundreds of college kids basking in the sun. We even saw a couple guys playing jenga... no tables, no chairs, just the stone streets of the square. It was pretty stinkin' awesome. Spanish lunch time is from 2-4 and it was already 3 so we needed to find someplace to eat fairly quickly. I didn't want to eat in the town center because generally it's more expensive and not that great anyway. We did a lot of walking and finally stumbled upon a Greek place called Thassos... AMAZING! I sure missed Greek food.
By time we finished eating it was 4:45. All the museums and monuments generally close at 5pm, 5:30 on the weekends. I was really looking forward to Ieronimus: the old gothic cathedral tower tour. If I had been able to just walk to the old cathedral and go straight to the ticket booth we probably would have made it, but NooOOoOOOOoooo... I had to take pictures of everything. The baroque Church of La Clerecia and the "freckled" Casa de Las Conchas were staring each other down. The church is now host to the Pontifical University, and the Casa is a public library. The Convento de San Esteban was built by the Dominican friars in the 16th century, masses are still held in every church.
The Catedral Nueva (New Cathedral) is so massively impressive. It was built because apparently the original Cathedral just wasn't impressive enough? You can see both cathedrals' bell towers when you look up from the Convent of San Esteban. The inside of the new cathedral was extravagant, beautiful... and it reminded me a lot of the cathedral in Segovia. I love gothic and mudejar architecture though so bring on the cathedrals! Here's a fun tidbit for you: did you know the euro notes depict different centuries of architecture? True story.
We spent the rest of our time walking and talking, stopping to drink coffee and Irish beer along the way. The Irish college in Salamanca means there are plenty of pubs to choose from with Murphy's on tap... there's also coffee with Bailey's :) As the sun set we made our way back to the car so I could drop my camera off. I was done taking pictures. The ones I had taken were enough and I wasn't feeling creative. A couple more shots as lights came on, and then it was just me and my baby :)
Wonderful date. Day dates are the best. Thanks again Laura!
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