We are up way too early this morning! Totally misjudged the sunrise, because, well, the hour time change just threw us. We wanted to hike to a couple of the lookouts that sweet desk clerk lady told us about, but by the time we get on the road, it isn’t looking good for more than 1 viewpoint. Oh well, at least we figured out the coffee! (Thank heavens for our own old plastic cups we bought on an NCL cruise ages ago! They saved our butts, as well as the microwave downstairs in the lounge area where we could heat up our water for our instant coffee. Phew!).
Finally, out on the road a little past 6:30am, it is just barely light, but fortunately, the roads are all nicely paved and we aren’t off-roading like we were yesterday! The plan is to hit Mirador del Fraile and then Picon de Felipe, which she said was beautiful. We reach the Mirador del Fraile easily, but what sweet desk clerk lady said was an 800 meter walk from the parking area turns out to be more like 1.8K. Either she was under estimating, or she didn’t realize that the lower parking lot has fallen into the canyon and is currently closed for repairs/rebuilding! We end up parking in the lot she told us to park for the other lookout and walking all the way down this long winding road, and I mean literally downhill the entire 1.8k! This will be fun going back up.
Oh, and it is a scary lookout! Just a finger of Corten steel reaching out over the abyss of the canyon that makes up the river walls. Eek! I’m not thinking about it – because the scenery is just gorgeous and stunning – and while scarily frightening to be out on that finger of steel over nothing but air – it is also pretty cool and gorgeous and peaceful in the early morning with just the two of us here.
This is the highest point of the Duero canyon (Duero is the name of the river here in Spain, Douro in Portugal), overlooking one of the points in Europe where the greatest volume of water passes. The Douro basin was at one time an inland sea, until the tectonic plates tilted and the water was forced down toward the west, creating this massive canyon and steep walls.
Way down below us is the Aldeada dam and power plant. You can see just how much water the dam holds back, with its 45-meter-thick walls. Building of the dam began in 1956 and the hydroelectric plant began operation in 1963; 2 more turbines were added in the 1980s. It is no wonder the plant is the largest producer of hydroelectric energy in Spain. And a place for the imagination – the final scenes of Dr. Zhivago were shot here, as well as scenes form the Terminator, Dark Fate and other series.
The walk back isn’t quite as onerous as we had thought, and we have a little bit of time to wander around the parking lot area – over to the cliffs on that side of the canyon for the views. We also are treated to a caterpillar train! We have never ever seen anything like that – totally wild (we find out later from our new friend Lissa that these are “procissionarias” that turn into beautiful moths, but at this stage their fur can cause wounds on your skin, and if inhaled can cause massive damage to the throat and lungs – um – good to know and glad we only took pictures of them!).
Sadly though, now we must leave without Picon de Felipe, because we must be back to the hotel to shower and have breakfast at 9:30. Oh well, there is always another trip and another visit … maybe…. On the way back, we stop at the intersection with the huge steel thing we think looks sort of like a plane engine – but turns out to be a water turbine. Dam. Turbine. Yeah. Then it is back to the hotel, we have a great little breakfast with pre-packaged pastries that we are taking with us for snacks….
And it is out on the road for our quick drive over to Salamanca through gorgeous farmland full of those yellow flowering rapeseed plants from which Canola oil is made.
Arriving in Salamanca, we follow the apartment manager’s instructions and find the garage painted with trees without an issue (thank heavens for all his instructions, he was great!). The house cleaner comes to meet us and literally walks our car down into the garage, 2 floors, to show us how to park. Oh yeah, good decision on the smaller vehicle! What we thought of as a small garage in Porto was a massive palatial mansion compared to this. It takes so many tries to back into the parking space – and remember, this is Ed who is an excellent driver! Fingers crossed there will be empty spaces when we leave on Monday so our exit will be simpler.
The apartment isn’t ready yet, which we had known, but since this looks like the only rain-free day in Salamanca, we wanted to get here early to explore the town. And they were nice enough to let us come and just park the car, then come back for the apartment. The house cleaner even gives us a quick tour of the place and also a map with instructions on where everything is (in broken Spanglish, which is perfect for us!). And then we are off and out into the old city streets.
Our first stop is Plaza Mayor, the main plaza of the city, which is only a few minutes walk away. It is far too early for lunch yet, and while we do want to stop somewhere to reconnoiter for a bit, the main plaza is normally not the place to do it – so we find a little café around the corner, which actually is just as or more expensive than on the main square! But we have a booth and warm cappuccino and we share an overpriced croissant – and use the restroom facilities! – while we plan our afternoon.
Once back out on the streets, the architecture here is beautiful, all sandstone buildings with ornate carvings and soaring towers. We head over to Casa de las Conchas, the 16th century gothic palace covered in seashells that is now a library and exhibition space. The courtyard remains open to the public, with its balcony that is caved to imitate basketwork, and great views of the towers of La Clericia, an historic baroque catholic church across the street.
Which is where we go next – to climb the bell tower, all 152 steps – for amazing views across the city. We didn’t go to the very top – where the stairway was totally narrow and a line of people were waiting to go up – the 152 steps and the views were enough.
Then we headed back through town, looking for somewhere to lunch. We stopped at a tapas restaurant we had read about, but they weren’t serving yet, so we continued on, actually ending up right off Plaza Mayor, at Doze, a Catalan restaurant, of all things! Perfect for me as we could order croquetas and Canelon made with boneless Iberian rib meat! Ed ordered a torta camaron which turned out to be an excellent fried fricca kind of thing with shrimp, as well as an Albondiga Rabo (a “bulltail” meatball with Thai sauce). Perfect lunch!
A quick walk took us back to the apartment where our sweet little house cleaner showed us around and got us settled. It is a great space – all modern, bright and spacious. We could definitely stay here for more than 2 nights – except for that garage….oh well, we’ll enjoy it now while we have it.
A little bit later, we go back out to explore around town, heading to the cathedral where we can’t take enough photos of the gorgeous Gothic style exterior. All those carvings are amazing. And the whole exterior makes for a beautiful backdrop to the tulips blooming in the foreground.
Since we want to be outside as much as possible today, we end up buying tickets online for a visit tomorrow – that way we know we are set for inside touring if it does rain as the forecast shows. So, today, we continue on our tour, heading to the end of the city walls for the Puente Romano, or Roman Bridge, built in Middle Ages and the only access into the walled city until the beginning of the 20th century. Spanning the Rio Tormes, the bridge is the symbol of Salamanca, appearing on the city’s shield. 15 of the 26 arches date back to Roman origin. The rest have been reconstructed or restored when necessary from just general decay or natural catastrophes, such as the flood of 1626.
More exploring, we head over to the university area (Salamanca University is one of the oldest Universities in Europe) where we find multiple of these little kiosk vending stores. Yes, you read that right: Snacks and Sex Shop. Okie dokie. You know we can’t resist that. Care for a vibrator with your Doritos, anyone?
Looking for a place for a quick beverage, we land at Ya Ya bar, a definite Univiersity hang out with the best music videos playing. Talk about taking you back years! Unfortunately, the bartender doesn’t give me the best pour. I do feel totally cheated here! Sigh. Thankfully, it is so ridiculously cheap that a 2nd glass (with a much better pour) doesn’t even come close to the cost of one glass back in the states.
Drinks complete, we meander back through town, snapping pictures everywhere we go – it is just too gorgeous not to! We walk past the University entrance where there are lots of tours standing there staring at the carvings on the walls, then over toward Conventors de Las Duenas which doesn’t open again until 4:30.
We arrive just as they are opening the door, literally, a nun comes out and unlocks the door for us to come in. We have a whole conversation in Spanish and finger pointing, and when I give her a 20 Euro to pay, she says she doesn’t have change and to come back after we are done to pay. Ok. Sweet.
Inside the convent, which was founded in 1419, we proceed to the courtyard, where there is a beautiful garden, along with a reconstructed Mudejar door, from the original owner of the building, Don Juan Sanches Sevillano, after his widow donated the building to the Monastery. Part of the Monastery collapsed in 1963, destroying the original door, but it was reconstructed here to show the original artwork. Plus, on the floor, the interlocking diamond pattern mosaics are made with vertebrae of goats and sheep. Yikes!
Upstairs, there is a wonderful museum with all sorts of relics – and outside on the balcony (which has to be opened for us as well), there are so many carvings and grotesques, we could take pictures of all these things forever.
Off to one side of the balcony there is also a chapel dedicated to the memory of slavery in the 17th and 18th century. One painting is of Teresa Chikaba, who was captured as a slave and brought to Spain, living as a slave for 17 years until she entered the Monastery and became a nun. There is even a photo of the Slave house from Goree island in Dakar, Senegal. Talk about full circle, or small world.
Later in the evening, after a bit of a relaxing back in the apartment we tried to go to La Musa, which is right behind the apartment, for dinner – but the kitchen didn’t open until 8, and well, that’s just so late. So we figured we’d just walk around and come back for drinks around 7:30, then dinner. But as we walked, we ended up back in the university area and found a bar called Café el Corral de Guevara. Perfect choice, it was just like being back at Friscos on the Outer Banks in the ‘90s! Everybody knew everybody, the owner/bartender was a doll – told us the kitchen opened in 20 minutes, so we hung out and drank until the food came. A guy – with an orange neon pants and vest outfit that said something about car repair – came in and started serving – it was the best!
And the food was excellent! We shared seafood croquettas (shrimp and merluza! Yay) and Huevos rotos con jamon – basically fried eggs served over French fries with Iberico ham on top. The best!!! Oh and the characters! The old, bearded guy outside who reminds us of someone – maybe somebody in Harry Potter or some other fairytale, I don’t know – but he’s right in my line of sight and I can’t not keep looking at him. I adore trying to imagine his backstory!
Walking home, we once again pass the University doors, and once again watch all the people standing in the square staring up at the façade. It is amazing and gorgeous and carvings galore, but does it really deserve all this time? We finally did figure out why everyone is so intent on the façade, besides the fact that it is gorgeous. Apparently there is a little frog somewhere up there and legend has it that if a student can find it the very first time they see the wall, they will have good luck with their exams. We never saw it, so, guess we aren’t going back to school and have good exam scores!
A short walk (nothing is far in this city) brings us back to the apartment and a relaxing rest of the evening, just hanging out, drinking our fab local beer and wine, and watching a most engaging Netflix documentary called the Bad Surgeon. OMG. We are totally hooked!!!
Andiamo 