Salamanca in the Autumn

This was my first chance to show off my temporary home city to people from home and I was determined to squeeze in everything there is to see. A beastly task to achieve in a day and a half at the best of times, but the weather stubbornly tried to put us off.

The wind gusted constantly, whipping all of the autumnal leaves off at once.

We walked around the grand Plaza Mayor and wandered along the streets where the old university buildings are clustered, their sandy coloured, crumbling fronts masking the various departments of one of the most prestigious universities in Spain.

Then it was down to the River Tormes at the bottom of the town to the old roman bridge. The bridge is certainly a must, at least because of the view it gives of the town behind, the cathedral looming high above the rest of Salamanca. We crossed over at the correct hour - just as it was being lit up, along with the rest of the key monuments in town. The vista was particularly spectacular, but also a little menacing, as the wind had finally brought the rain clouds. Within a couple of minutes the rain was thundering around us. We headed towards the arches of the bridge to find some shelter and we realised that there was a small orchestra of teenagers practicing there. It was fabulous – cowering under one of the arches with the sound of the lashing rain and the band playing as hard as they could.

As the rain wasn’t letting up much, we decided to take refuge in the Casa Lis, the museum of Art Noveau and Art Deco. It is housed in a wonderful building, the entire length of which is a huge Art Deco stained glass frontage, which, naturally, is lit up at night.

It is one of my favourite buildings in Salamanca, but it was made even more so on such a dark evening. We strolled around the exhibits, both strange (the collection of scary dolls complete with facial hair) and beautiful (the assorted Lalique and Gallé glass).

The next morning we went to see the town’s two cathedrals – one “old” (12^th century) and one “new” (16^th century).

They are in fact built right up to each other and you have to go through the new cathedral to access the old one. There is also access to the two cathedral towers, which stand tall over the entire town. You are allowed to walk all the way to the top and out onto the dizzying platforms which give you an idea of the enormity of the cathedrals, as well as their different styles. The views across Salamanca are second to none.

Back on the ground, we were beside Salamanca’s challenge of the frog. You can't very well invite your friends to Salamanca and not let them try it.

Hidden in the intricately engraved facade of one of the university buildings is a tiny frog. It is said that if you can find it unaided it will bring you marriage or five years of good luck, although the rules on choosing between them if you want one and not the other are unclear! I set Brandusa and Horia to work on their task: Brandusa immediately took up the challenge by scanning each section separately.

Horia's technique was certainly more original, although I don't think the gods of luck would have approved: he took close up photos of whole areas hoping to be able to find it in the picture by zooming in. Neither technique was particularly successful, although Brandusa came within a few inches of it. We agreed she could have two and a half years of luck. We finished off the day by heading to a cosy cafe to escape the cold and congratulate ourselves with a plate of churros to dunk into mugs of thick hot chocolate.