Salamanca is in the heart of the high meseta, at about 850m above sea level, so when it is cold, it is cold. The sun helped, but did not penetrate into the streets.
We went and visited the Roman bridge. After Merida, and in the cold, it was a bit of a yawn. We went to the Universidad and saw the wonderful facade. We found the frog so I will pass my next exam, which is likely to be finding Marjan a warmer location. Unfortunately the building was closed for tourists today. Not every Thursday, just today. Spain is like that. Oh well, a second round of churros, with chocolate this time was needed to ward off the cold till the Art Deco Museum opened. As it turned out it was free this morning, merely as compensation for the Uiniversidad, and merely for our benefit.
Lovely place, the ceiling alone was gorgeous. No piccies allowed so you will have to imagine it. It is an Art Deco house built on top of the old town walls. The facade to the river and the ceiling are stained glass and lovely. The collection of Art Deco, art nouveau is quite interesting in parts. We both quite enjoyed it.
We were close to San Esteban, the Dominicans convent, so we dropped by there. This is where Columbus started marketing his proposed trip to the Indies. The Dominicans had the scientific knowledge to understand what he was on about, and helped him with the money and politics people. The cloister was wonderful. I think we are becoming cloister people. Churches are OK, monuments can be interesting, but cloisters are always appreciated. The church is also immense, considering it is a couple of hundred metres from the cathedral, and is essentially just for the Dominican monks. One interesting side note is there were a whole range of mirrors placed around the place to save you having to look up. Weird, but useful.
By then we were getting peckish, and in need of some warmth as San Esteban was not heated. We found a reasonable place overlooking the Plaza Mayor and had their Menu Del Dia. My lentils and Marjan's paella were big enough to feed us, but we struggled through a second course and even dessert.
Whilst eating we watched Salamanca stroll by on their way through the Plaza Mayor. It was pleasant. The same old gent walked through at a very sedate pace, with his daughter or carer wheeling his chair, three times at least. We saw numerous styles of doggy overcoats,we saw cyclists, skaters, walkers, prams, grandparents, children, in fact it seemed all of Salamanca walked by whilst we kept warm and ate. Of particular note is that Salamanca has the highest proportion of fur coats per head of population of anywhere I have been. Also of note is that women who are too young for fur coats tend to wear hot pants and stockings with a parka. It is the Salamanca way.
We had a bit of a break after lunch and only ventured out later in the afternoon, when the temperature had hit six. We did a bit of a shop and then visited the Dueñas cloister. They are the female equivalent of the Domincans and have a littler place across the way. They have a very nice cloister, which is not rectangular. They are also trying to get canonised a Sister Teresa, who was an African slave before she joined their Order.
Eventually, in Salamanca, you come back to Plaza Mayor. We reached it when the light was beautiful.
We had a snack and a beer and went out to check out how the light was going.
The temperature was dropping from the meteoric top of seven, so we decided to head home, via another tapas bar, well I had to....they had a whole new variety of morcilla, and prepare for our drive to Galicia tomorrow. I have been told, by a Gallego admittedly, that Spanish food is the best in the world, but that Galician food is the best in Spain. We'll let you know.
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