24 Hours in Salamanca

24 Hours in Salamanca … our last 24 hours in Spain

For our final 24 hours in Spain, we took a high speed train from Madrid to Salamanca.

Salamanca is about 200 kilometres west of Madrid, and about 80 km east of Portugal.

Salamanca is a UNESCO World Heritage Site

We had fabulous weather on our two-week trip to Spain … until our final 24 hours. Overnight, it turned cold and wet. I dug through to the bottom of my suitcase and hauled out my just-in-case-it-rains jacket … and my just-in-case-it’s-cold sweater.

The old town of Salamanca is small and walkable but watch out for slippery cobblestones.

Our first stop on our walking tour is the University of Salamanca

The University of Salamanca celebrated its 800th birthday in 2018. It was founded in 1218. Although it is the third oldest western university, it is the first university to be granted university status.

Today, the University of Salamanca attracts thousands of American university students who come to Spain to learn Spanish, to study at a top university … and to enjoy a term abroad, courtesy of the Bank of Mom and Dad.

Earlier in the week, we met a group of American students on the train who were spending their term at the University of Salamanca. They were taking the train to the south of Spain for the weekend. They were excited, friendly and happy to chat with us on the train about their experiences. They were loving their term abroad.They were all from different American universities and met when they arrived in Salamanca. They made it seem so fun to be young and on your own, meeting new people, making friends, travelling, all with the financial backing of every student’s favourite bank.

Could I blend? It is never too late to plan a term abroad.

This sign counts the age of the University of Salamanca in years, days and minutes

University courtyards have not changed in 800 years

After our visit to the University, we strolled across town to the Casa Lis Art Nouveau and Art Deco Museum

This is a wonderful museum inside and out. Here is the link:
http://www.museocasalis.org/nuevaweb/en/

The museum is an old mansion

If you were in Spain in the 1970s, you could have lived in this mansion. It was not a museum then. It was rented out to tenants. Then it was closed and fell into decay. In 1981, the city of Salamanca saved it from ruin and opened it as an Art Nouveau and Art Déco museum for decorative arts.

When we looked at all the stained glass in the mansion, we decided to return at night to see if it is lit up.

The inside of the museum is stunning

The ceiling for the centre court in the museum is an enormous stained glass

Many walls feature stained glass insets

The museum houses a fabulous collection of decorative art deco

Here is a fabulous piece of art deco glass

…. and another

This art deco hood ornament looks like it could cast an evil spell on anyone even thinking about stealing it from a car

There is a lovely cafe in the museum

I should have ordered a coffee, just to see this machine in action.

There were many different collections in the museum. One large room was devoted to a huge collection of dolls. I did not take any photos. A room full of dolls looks a little spooky.

After spending a couple of hours in the museum, we were ready to take a stroll through the streets of the old city of Salamanca. It wasn’t raining but it was still blustery and cold.

On a warm day, we would have been tempted to try this scraped ice cream

With just 24 hours in Salamanca … our last 24 hours in Spain … we decided to split up … for a couple of hours. Norman wanted to see a car museum. I wanted to shop!

Salamanca has a lovely pedestrian shopping street in the old city

Can you picture yourself behind the wheel of this car?

Norman took lots of photos at the car museum. I picked this car as the best one for touring in Spain on a sunny day!

Here is a link to the car museum: http://museoautomocion.com/en/VISITA/#horario

Do you like street food?

While on my shopping expedition, I came across a cafe that makes churros, Spanish doughnuts.

The doughnut batter is piped into a vat of boiling oil

This is the tricky part … the baker has to flip the giant churro

YES. He flipped it!

The churro is done, ready to be cut and sold in strips

The traditional way to eat a churro is to dip each bite into a mug of melted chocolate.

I did not try the churro because we had a plan for a delicious dinner overlooking the main square in the old city.

This is our view for one of our best dinners in Spain

For our only dinner in Salamanca … and our final dinner in Spain … we went to Las Tapas de Gonzalo. Every dish was different and perfect. The staff was friendly and offered suggestions. When I wanted to take pictures, they opened the doors on the terrace overlooking the square.

After dinner we strolled back to the art deco museum to see if it was lit up at night …

This is our final view of our 24 hour trip to Salamanca