Salamanca Spain 2013
After an uneventful bus ride, AlteCocker arrived at her home for the next leg of her home exchanged based trip. Lovely small apartment. Unlike the Toulouse house, it's clean! No complaints at all.
Of course, getting into the house turned into a bit of minor panic time. The key was left for AlteCocker in the mailbox in an envelope. At first she thought there was no key. Nope. It was in the envelope. Then she had no clue where the apartment was. Someone who put up with her pigeon Spanish (really more of a bad joke than anything else) helped her. He told her it was on the top floor. Predictably she tried the wrong apartment first. Having done something similar, AlteCocker looked more closely and found her home.
Biggest problem: Finding out how to work the blinds. In the past they have always gone up and down with a pulley. Not in this house. They are automatic and there is this little thing with buttons for 2 of them and up and down buttons on the wall for the other. AlteCocker is now having trouble closing one of those European windows but is bound to figure it out eventually. Tonight she will turn in early relieved not to have to move around again with the luggage for awhile. She doesn't travel with much but it is still always a pain. As she travels more and more, she keeps taking smaller bags. Next year she is going to get everything into a carry on. The main problem this year is that everyone seems to be schlepping their computers and she has her old laptop with her . Next year a tablet update is in order.
As always, the first day in a new location is a bit of a challenge--never mind driving the car for the first time. Today AlteCocker left the car alone and took the very convenient city bus into town for a look at the Salamanca Cathedral. It's a real stunner. It's 5 euros to enter and they offer an acoustiguide in English. Take it, but select what buttons you push. If you push them all, you could be there for a couple of hours. After over an hour of looking at the old church and the new church (They did not destroy the old to build the new), and being surfeited with chapel this and chapel that, AlteCocker moved right along and--horrors--skipped a few chapels. Most churches leave me cold after the first 2 in Europe but this was a really good one and AlteCocker took a lot of photos.
After the cathedral and a break for a snack because AlteCocker's back was beginning to give out, AlteCocker went to a Jesuit Church that has historical significance and is part of the Pontifical (Catholic) University in Salamanca. There are a lot of Jesuit connections at the University. She mainly went because she thought the tour would be in English, but only in Spanish. It was sort of a shame because the guide was a fluent French speaker and over half the people would have gotten a lot more out of the tour if she had given it in both languages, but there are no nonSpanish tours at that particular church/university. The tour is obligatory if you want to see the place. There was an audiovisual presentation with English subtitles at the end. The tour would have been better if that had been first as AlteCocker would have had more clues to the Spanish. Americans are very scarce in Salamanca although there are a lot of tourists from all over Europe. The University does have intensive Spanish classes for foreigners. What AlteCocker saw on the tour was a lot of Baroque architecture and a spectacular church. The tour was only 30-45 minutes (depending on how long you look at the audiovisual presentation at the end.
AlteCocker stopped at the Plaza Mayor (supposedly the largest in Europe) and had a sangria and some sort of sorbet concoction--which she did not finish before heading home. Happy to report there were no bus misadventures at all and she got off at the correct stop. It was a good start to learning the city.
Of course, getting into the house turned into a bit of minor panic time. The key was left for AlteCocker in the mailbox in an envelope. At first she thought there was no key. Nope. It was in the envelope. Then she had no clue where the apartment was. Someone who put up with her pigeon Spanish (really more of a bad joke than anything else) helped her. He told her it was on the top floor. Predictably she tried the wrong apartment first. Having done something similar, AlteCocker looked more closely and found her home.
Biggest problem: Finding out how to work the blinds. In the past they have always gone up and down with a pulley. Not in this house. They are automatic and there is this little thing with buttons for 2 of them and up and down buttons on the wall for the other. AlteCocker is now having trouble closing one of those European windows but is bound to figure it out eventually. Tonight she will turn in early relieved not to have to move around again with the luggage for awhile. She doesn't travel with much but it is still always a pain. As she travels more and more, she keeps taking smaller bags. Next year she is going to get everything into a carry on. The main problem this year is that everyone seems to be schlepping their computers and she has her old laptop with her . Next year a tablet update is in order.
As always, the first day in a new location is a bit of a challenge--never mind driving the car for the first time. Today AlteCocker left the car alone and took the very convenient city bus into town for a look at the Salamanca Cathedral. It's a real stunner. It's 5 euros to enter and they offer an acoustiguide in English. Take it, but select what buttons you push. If you push them all, you could be there for a couple of hours. After over an hour of looking at the old church and the new church (They did not destroy the old to build the new), and being surfeited with chapel this and chapel that, AlteCocker moved right along and--horrors--skipped a few chapels. Most churches leave me cold after the first 2 in Europe but this was a really good one and AlteCocker took a lot of photos.
After the cathedral and a break for a snack because AlteCocker's back was beginning to give out, AlteCocker went to a Jesuit Church that has historical significance and is part of the Pontifical (Catholic) University in Salamanca. There are a lot of Jesuit connections at the University. She mainly went because she thought the tour would be in English, but only in Spanish. It was sort of a shame because the guide was a fluent French speaker and over half the people would have gotten a lot more out of the tour if she had given it in both languages, but there are no nonSpanish tours at that particular church/university. The tour is obligatory if you want to see the place. There was an audiovisual presentation with English subtitles at the end. The tour would have been better if that had been first as AlteCocker would have had more clues to the Spanish. Americans are very scarce in Salamanca although there are a lot of tourists from all over Europe. The University does have intensive Spanish classes for foreigners. What AlteCocker saw on the tour was a lot of Baroque architecture and a spectacular church. The tour was only 30-45 minutes (depending on how long you look at the audiovisual presentation at the end.
AlteCocker stopped at the Plaza Mayor (supposedly the largest in Europe) and had a sangria and some sort of sorbet concoction--which she did not finish before heading home. Happy to report there were no bus misadventures at all and she got off at the correct stop. It was a good start to learning the city.
Ciudad Rodrigo
AlteCocker finally drove the Spanish car today. It's a Volkswagen and probably newer than the one AlteCocker had in Toulouse but so long as the car does not breakdown and it gets her where she wants to go, AlteCocker is satisfied. The biggest challenge was liberating the car from the garage underneath the apartment building in which her exchange apartment is located. You need one key to go down to the lower parking levels, then you need this plastic "key" to open the door to the garage. AlteCocker couldn't find the place to put the key to get the door to open. Fortunately, a helpful Spanish person was trying to get into the garage and explained the system to her. Problem solved. Everyone here has been almost universally helpful and friendly.
Ciudad Rodrigo is about 90 kilometers west of Salamanca very near the Portuguese border (AlteCocker plans to dip into Portugal later on an overnight trip but not just yet). It is a small walled city. Despite the build up in the guide books, AlteCocker was a bit disappointed having seen much larger walled cities on the French leg of this trip. Nevertheless a very inexpensive multi course lunch whiled away the time followed by a visit to the church and a museum devoted to a collection of toilets--the kind you had to use before flush plumbing. Both were interesting but the urinal museum, well, that one is unique. The town makes a bit of a big deal out of its "connection" with El Cid in the naming of some of the shops, but who knows if the connection is just imaginary or if El Cid even existed.
Driving back and forth to Ciudad Rodrigo AlteCocker noticed how arid the landscape seemed--sort of like Arizona or Texas. When she noticed she was having a nosebleed she realized that it is like Arizona or Texas. Warm but no humidity and it does cool off at night. The weather in Toulouse--with heat and humidity--was much worse especially since there is no significant air conditioning in homes in Europe. AlteCocker's apartment in Salamanca is on the top floor so it does get warm during the day even with use of blinds to keep the sun out. Once the sun goes down, the temperature gets comfortable very quickly.
Best purchase of the trip: a European GPS with maps to all the countries on it. No more getting lost if AlteCocker takes a wrong turn. The GPS simply recomputes. Why didn't AlteCocker do this a long time ago? Home without any worries but a bit of time to park the car in the garage. That will get easier.
After a brief hiatus in the apartment AlteCocker was off downtown because it was Saturday night. Everyone was out walking everywhere in the old city. Despite her intention not to eat another large meal, that sort of happened when she found a restaurant with roast suckling piglet on the menu. It was on AlteCocker's list of things to try and she did. It tastes a lot like chicken rather than pork. From this you may surmise that AlteCocker--despite her name--is not kosher. You would surmise right.
After dinner AlteCocker walked around observing the Spanish strollers and walked up to the Cathedral. By the time she looked for a bus to get back, well the bus service had shut for the night. A taxi quickly got AlteCocker home and she was able to tell him where she needed to go. Spanish is getting easier and the little AlteCocker has is returning. It is really total immersion on a trip like this and you do pick up a lot quickly--unfortunately all to be forgotten as soon as AlteCocker you return home.
Ciudad Rodrigo is about 90 kilometers west of Salamanca very near the Portuguese border (AlteCocker plans to dip into Portugal later on an overnight trip but not just yet). It is a small walled city. Despite the build up in the guide books, AlteCocker was a bit disappointed having seen much larger walled cities on the French leg of this trip. Nevertheless a very inexpensive multi course lunch whiled away the time followed by a visit to the church and a museum devoted to a collection of toilets--the kind you had to use before flush plumbing. Both were interesting but the urinal museum, well, that one is unique. The town makes a bit of a big deal out of its "connection" with El Cid in the naming of some of the shops, but who knows if the connection is just imaginary or if El Cid even existed.
Driving back and forth to Ciudad Rodrigo AlteCocker noticed how arid the landscape seemed--sort of like Arizona or Texas. When she noticed she was having a nosebleed she realized that it is like Arizona or Texas. Warm but no humidity and it does cool off at night. The weather in Toulouse--with heat and humidity--was much worse especially since there is no significant air conditioning in homes in Europe. AlteCocker's apartment in Salamanca is on the top floor so it does get warm during the day even with use of blinds to keep the sun out. Once the sun goes down, the temperature gets comfortable very quickly.
Best purchase of the trip: a European GPS with maps to all the countries on it. No more getting lost if AlteCocker takes a wrong turn. The GPS simply recomputes. Why didn't AlteCocker do this a long time ago? Home without any worries but a bit of time to park the car in the garage. That will get easier.
After a brief hiatus in the apartment AlteCocker was off downtown because it was Saturday night. Everyone was out walking everywhere in the old city. Despite her intention not to eat another large meal, that sort of happened when she found a restaurant with roast suckling piglet on the menu. It was on AlteCocker's list of things to try and she did. It tastes a lot like chicken rather than pork. From this you may surmise that AlteCocker--despite her name--is not kosher. You would surmise right.
After dinner AlteCocker walked around observing the Spanish strollers and walked up to the Cathedral. By the time she looked for a bus to get back, well the bus service had shut for the night. A taxi quickly got AlteCocker home and she was able to tell him where she needed to go. Spanish is getting easier and the little AlteCocker has is returning. It is really total immersion on a trip like this and you do pick up a lot quickly--unfortunately all to be forgotten as soon as AlteCocker you return home.
A Slow Day
After yesterday's trek to Ciudad Rodrigo, AlteCocker basically took today off. Laundry and obtaining money were the key joys of the day. Laundry was successfully accomplished in the morning.
Yes, there is bus service in Salamanca on Sunday, but much less often. Since the area where she is staying was basically dead, AlteCocker took the bus down to the Plaza Mayor. She didn't have to use the map this time as she is familiar with the bus route and much of the tourist area of Salamanca. She had pizza for lunch with an ice cream from one of the gazillion ice cream places after and walked around finally buying a t-shirt with a cartoon Don Quixote and Sancho Panza on it. Miguel Cervantes was from the area around Salamanca, but perhaps Salamanca is overstating its claim, but, heck, it's just a "brag" t-shirt with some funny cartoon guys on it.
After meandering around some more, AlteCocker began the serious business of trying to get money. 2 ATMs were broken and said my transaction had been refused. With some of the ATMs it is hard to determine if it would take her card in advance. Success was achieved at the 4th ATM and AlteCocker heaved a huge sigh of relief.
Not wanting to repeat the lack of a bus and taxi adventure of the day before, AlteCocker took the bus home early and discovered the local bakery was open 7 days a week. It appears to be a hangout for all the retired people in the neighborhood. There were lots of animated conversations of which AlteCocker understood very little. The waitress did remember, however, that AlteCocker likes her coffee "con leche".
Now to pack to go to Porto in Portugal for a couple of days--or somewhere. AlteCocker never knows when she gets in the car where she will end up. It's part of the holiday.
Yes, there is bus service in Salamanca on Sunday, but much less often. Since the area where she is staying was basically dead, AlteCocker took the bus down to the Plaza Mayor. She didn't have to use the map this time as she is familiar with the bus route and much of the tourist area of Salamanca. She had pizza for lunch with an ice cream from one of the gazillion ice cream places after and walked around finally buying a t-shirt with a cartoon Don Quixote and Sancho Panza on it. Miguel Cervantes was from the area around Salamanca, but perhaps Salamanca is overstating its claim, but, heck, it's just a "brag" t-shirt with some funny cartoon guys on it.
After meandering around some more, AlteCocker began the serious business of trying to get money. 2 ATMs were broken and said my transaction had been refused. With some of the ATMs it is hard to determine if it would take her card in advance. Success was achieved at the 4th ATM and AlteCocker heaved a huge sigh of relief.
Not wanting to repeat the lack of a bus and taxi adventure of the day before, AlteCocker took the bus home early and discovered the local bakery was open 7 days a week. It appears to be a hangout for all the retired people in the neighborhood. There were lots of animated conversations of which AlteCocker understood very little. The waitress did remember, however, that AlteCocker likes her coffee "con leche".
Now to pack to go to Porto in Portugal for a couple of days--or somewhere. AlteCocker never knows when she gets in the car where she will end up. It's part of the holiday.
Portugal: A Bust; Impossible Road Toll Situation
AlteCocker is sorry to say that Portugal was a bust for her. The moment you enter Portugal from Spain you are met with what has to be Europe's most confusing system of road tolls. Foreigners are told to report off to the side where they area asked to put a credit card into a machine so that their tolls can be hooked up with the car they are driving. Of course, the credit cards that work all have chips--which American credit cards mostly do not have. There is no way to pay the tolls individually. For Europeans, you put the credit card into the machine and then, when you leave there is some sort of system to check you out by the border. AlteCocker ended up going in via the road from Salamanca (no tolls on the Spanish side at all) and exiting by the norther border towards Santiago de Compostella where she noticed no exit system for the credit cards. The system is confusing at best and there is always a risk of being over charged by the messed up system.
This puts aside the cost of the tolls on the Portuguese roads which are enormous. If Portugal wants to welcome tourists, this is a poor way to do it. AlteCocker lost count of the tolls but for one day probably fairly close to $50--and that was just the northern bit (and does not include maybe $25-30 on the roads that use the traditional European/New Jersey Turnpike card system). AlteCocker does wonder if the Portuguese do this to bilk tourists and give their nationals a better deal. It is a poor way to handle tourism in a country that is way under visited.
Since AlteCocker's credit cards would not work in the machine, she was told that she could go somewhere in the next town and buy a prepaid card or rent a transponder for the rest of her stay. Heaven forbid they should have these things for sale/rent at the Portuguese frontier--and the directions to where these things could be had were vague. Do not expect those at the border to speak English either. An English speaker was scrounged up for AlteCocker but he didn't know what AlteCocker should do any more than she did. Since AlteCocker's home exchanger will simply get a bill for the tolls AlteCocker ran up, she is just leaving her some money for the tolls. Quite frankly the system is such a mess for Americans that AlteCocker ended up sorry she bothered with Portugal at all. The last thing she would want is for the home exchanger to get a bill, but that was the only "solution" that did not involve looking around for a place that sold prepaid cards or rented transponders--and AlteCocker would have, of course, no idea how much she should pay for a prepaid card (a small fortune it turned out) or where to return a transponder. Give the tourists a break and let us pay the tolls individually. This just did not work for AlteCocker and she considered simply turning around and going back to Spain.
AlteCocker was told later that the exchanger might get no bill at all as the system is a mess and coordination with Spain is not the best (Spain is supposed to be the only country whose cars are hooked into the system). To add to the mess, AlteCocker accidentally went through the wrong lane on the auto route once for those with automatic subscriptions (meaning she did not go through the toll gate at the end of that segment either); she thought the card system had something to do with the credit card system that she could not use and only later realized she had illegally "run" a toll gate.. More money will be left in case there is a fine, etc. AlteCocker's homeexchanger can send back the euros in an envelope for use on another trip after a decent time has elapsed if nothing happens
So, Portugal was a bit of a mess and was totally spoiled for AlteCocker. Furthermore, AlteCocker did go through Porto but had a lot of difficulty driving on the steep hills (2 stall outs in the shift car and angry Portuguese drivers behind). That did in all thoughts of visiting Porto. She was also not thrilled when she saw one of those "little train" things that infest all European towns to give tourists a brief tour for too much money. She was outta there.
Instead of stopping in Porto, AlteCocker drove north. She stopped a delightful little monastery north of Porto just to break up the driving and at a rest stop to use the toilet and grab a coffee and ice cream. That was Portugal. It was also too bad as the scenery--full of little hill towns--topped anything Italy has to offer. Portuguese tourism needs to get organized.
Aside from the road toll mess, AlteCocker has to tell you all that from the moment you leave Spain from Salamanca and enter Portugal, the scenery gets stupendous. No more flat Castille and Leon (Salamanca's province), but hills and unbelievable roads to connect them all. Before the modern age, there probably was terrible isolation in Portugal. Unfortunately, with limited time and her stomach churning from the toll mess and steep hills in Porto, AlteCocker abandoned Portugal and made for Santiago de Compostela--fleeing the tolls and going to Spain's great pilgrimage church.
This puts aside the cost of the tolls on the Portuguese roads which are enormous. If Portugal wants to welcome tourists, this is a poor way to do it. AlteCocker lost count of the tolls but for one day probably fairly close to $50--and that was just the northern bit (and does not include maybe $25-30 on the roads that use the traditional European/New Jersey Turnpike card system). AlteCocker does wonder if the Portuguese do this to bilk tourists and give their nationals a better deal. It is a poor way to handle tourism in a country that is way under visited.
Since AlteCocker's credit cards would not work in the machine, she was told that she could go somewhere in the next town and buy a prepaid card or rent a transponder for the rest of her stay. Heaven forbid they should have these things for sale/rent at the Portuguese frontier--and the directions to where these things could be had were vague. Do not expect those at the border to speak English either. An English speaker was scrounged up for AlteCocker but he didn't know what AlteCocker should do any more than she did. Since AlteCocker's home exchanger will simply get a bill for the tolls AlteCocker ran up, she is just leaving her some money for the tolls. Quite frankly the system is such a mess for Americans that AlteCocker ended up sorry she bothered with Portugal at all. The last thing she would want is for the home exchanger to get a bill, but that was the only "solution" that did not involve looking around for a place that sold prepaid cards or rented transponders--and AlteCocker would have, of course, no idea how much she should pay for a prepaid card (a small fortune it turned out) or where to return a transponder. Give the tourists a break and let us pay the tolls individually. This just did not work for AlteCocker and she considered simply turning around and going back to Spain.
AlteCocker was told later that the exchanger might get no bill at all as the system is a mess and coordination with Spain is not the best (Spain is supposed to be the only country whose cars are hooked into the system). To add to the mess, AlteCocker accidentally went through the wrong lane on the auto route once for those with automatic subscriptions (meaning she did not go through the toll gate at the end of that segment either); she thought the card system had something to do with the credit card system that she could not use and only later realized she had illegally "run" a toll gate.. More money will be left in case there is a fine, etc. AlteCocker's homeexchanger can send back the euros in an envelope for use on another trip after a decent time has elapsed if nothing happens
So, Portugal was a bit of a mess and was totally spoiled for AlteCocker. Furthermore, AlteCocker did go through Porto but had a lot of difficulty driving on the steep hills (2 stall outs in the shift car and angry Portuguese drivers behind). That did in all thoughts of visiting Porto. She was also not thrilled when she saw one of those "little train" things that infest all European towns to give tourists a brief tour for too much money. She was outta there.
Instead of stopping in Porto, AlteCocker drove north. She stopped a delightful little monastery north of Porto just to break up the driving and at a rest stop to use the toilet and grab a coffee and ice cream. That was Portugal. It was also too bad as the scenery--full of little hill towns--topped anything Italy has to offer. Portuguese tourism needs to get organized.
Aside from the road toll mess, AlteCocker has to tell you all that from the moment you leave Spain from Salamanca and enter Portugal, the scenery gets stupendous. No more flat Castille and Leon (Salamanca's province), but hills and unbelievable roads to connect them all. Before the modern age, there probably was terrible isolation in Portugal. Unfortunately, with limited time and her stomach churning from the toll mess and steep hills in Porto, AlteCocker abandoned Portugal and made for Santiago de Compostela--fleeing the tolls and going to Spain's great pilgrimage church.
Santiago de Compostela
After the Portuguese road toll mess AlteCocker drove north back into Galicia in Spain running up a record road toll in one day but not visiting much of Portugal. On a trip based on a home exchange, where the effort is to visit something and return to base so as not to run up stellar amounts of hotel bills, you often do drive throughs of places. What she saw of Portugal was quite beautiful and she would return if she got a home exchange there--after doing a lot of research on the road toll situation. Of course, she knew nothing about Portuguese rond tolls beforehand. Her fault. It was an impulse trip.
Well to make lemonade from lemons, AlteCocker drove to Santiago de Compostela, the famous Spanish pilgrimage church in the small Galacian capital of Compostela. It was a total "Wow". If she had stayed in Porto, AlteCocker would have missed this.
Now AlteCocker is not even a Christian--much less a Roman Catholic--but Santiago is one of those "must see" churches. In the Middle Ages people walked the Camino de Santiago to gain remission of their sins upon arrival at the cathedral. People are still doing it--some for spiritual reasons, others because it is there. AlteCocker met people doing it in Toulouse and the route is marked all through France and Spain. She heard tales of people who did it every summer for the fellowship to be gained on the route (the long distance walkers occasionally disparaging those who only walked the last part of the route). So, AlteCocker was curious and it was put on the list of "possibles" for the Spanish leg of her trip. If she had to do it all over again, she would have just skipped Portugal and gone straight to Santiago de Compostela, but she got there by a convoluted route (as do a lot of the pilgrims). Of course, her "pilgrimage" was done in the car and the route through Portugal--plus tolls paid and unpaid--was not along the Camino de Compostela.
A pilgrims' mass is celebrated every day at noon and get their early for seats--very early. AlteCocker got there too late and stood. No photos were allowed during the mass. There is this immense incense burner that only is operated on certain holidays--unless someone or some organization pays 300 euros. Someone paid on August 5th and AlteCocker was happy to have seen this in action. In fact, she took photos (AlteCocker cheated for the insense burner while otherwise obeying the no photo rule during the service). People clapped when the incense burner was done. Just seeing all the people in the packed church is amazing. To those who think the Catholic Church has big problems--and it does--one look at the people in the church and you know there are still a lot of the faithful in Spain.
After the mass, AlteCocker jointed the long queue to "embrace" the saint. Whether St. James is actually in the tomb is up for grabs. His body was found in 814 AD and, as with much of sainted bodies/body parts it is impossible to know whether the corpse is real or it is a myth. While AlteCocker's Spanish is this side of a bad joke and the mass/sermon were all in Spanish, she did note the phrase "according to tradition" several times. The Spanish faithful queue up to kiss/hug the bust of St. James on top of the tomb. No, AlteCocker did not do this, but she did take a photo there--which seemed to be what all the Spanish were doing (with themselves kissing St. James or whoever it is; AlteCocker's photo was just of the bust). Then you descend into the crypt to see where the alleged St. James (according to tradition) is buried. There was a group of Spanish ladies saying what appeared to be the rosary there. AlteCocker could be wrong about the precise prayer, but the whole scene reminded her of the Orthodox Jewish men who pray at King David's Tomb. David's Tomb in Jersualeum is a similar story to that of St. James. It is another case of no one really knows who is in the tomb but is the traditional site venerated. Whatever your beliefs, you have to be moved at these places because people have been praying there for such a long time.
Exiting the cathedral, AlteCocker had picked up an acoustiguide tour from tourist information (12 euro, 50 euro deposit). It was OK, but, despite the photos on the brochure, AlteCocker had difficulty coordinating the places with the discourse. She listened to some of it and returned it. There were, by the way, no English language guided tours of the town scheduled on the day AlteCocker was there. There was one of the roof, but, after standing through the mass, AlteCocker bagged that one.
In Santiago AlteCocker stayed at Hotel Nest Syle--a hotel she simply parked next to (or double parked next to) and lucked out with a single room for 40 euro with breakfast. Hotel was fine but a bit noisy at night. Breakfast was continental, but decent with a large array of items.
The first night in Santiago, upon recommendation of the young man at the desk, AlteCocker ate at Maria Castana and had squid, a local specialty. She tried returning to the restaurant on the following day for lunch, but it was full up and the restaurant at which she ended up eating did not provide as good a meal. Both restaurants were in the old city.
The car was parked at a discount through the hotel for 10 euros per day in one of the lots that can be found surrounding the old city to accommodate tourists. As with all cities, once you get there, the best thing to do with a car is to find a secure parking lot and leave it.
So, Portugal did not work out, but Santiago did. By the way, AlteCocker's home exchanger said the record keeping for the roads in Portugal is a total mess, so hopefully there will be no bill, but AlteCocker will leave the money anyway. Better to be honest, lose a few bucks, and leave without any problems.
Coming home AlteCocker attempted to find this boat ride through a canyon but gave up for the day when the road ran out (something the GPS did not anticipate). She did get a couple of photos of the canyon. She will go back from the other side of the canyon, where it is accessible later in the trip, but, after realizing that it was not accessible from the the autoroute that comes into Salamanca from Galicia, simply drove home. In the quest for the canyon, however, there was some driving around in very rural Spain (and sometimes in circles). It was all interesting, but Santiago de Compostela will be the longest journey from Salamanca planned. Lots of driving on this side trip--and maybe some fines in Portugal! By the way, AlteCocker will certainly pay for any tolls/fines or whatever from Portugal should my home exchanger get a bill.
Well to make lemonade from lemons, AlteCocker drove to Santiago de Compostela, the famous Spanish pilgrimage church in the small Galacian capital of Compostela. It was a total "Wow". If she had stayed in Porto, AlteCocker would have missed this.
Now AlteCocker is not even a Christian--much less a Roman Catholic--but Santiago is one of those "must see" churches. In the Middle Ages people walked the Camino de Santiago to gain remission of their sins upon arrival at the cathedral. People are still doing it--some for spiritual reasons, others because it is there. AlteCocker met people doing it in Toulouse and the route is marked all through France and Spain. She heard tales of people who did it every summer for the fellowship to be gained on the route (the long distance walkers occasionally disparaging those who only walked the last part of the route). So, AlteCocker was curious and it was put on the list of "possibles" for the Spanish leg of her trip. If she had to do it all over again, she would have just skipped Portugal and gone straight to Santiago de Compostela, but she got there by a convoluted route (as do a lot of the pilgrims). Of course, her "pilgrimage" was done in the car and the route through Portugal--plus tolls paid and unpaid--was not along the Camino de Compostela.
A pilgrims' mass is celebrated every day at noon and get their early for seats--very early. AlteCocker got there too late and stood. No photos were allowed during the mass. There is this immense incense burner that only is operated on certain holidays--unless someone or some organization pays 300 euros. Someone paid on August 5th and AlteCocker was happy to have seen this in action. In fact, she took photos (AlteCocker cheated for the insense burner while otherwise obeying the no photo rule during the service). People clapped when the incense burner was done. Just seeing all the people in the packed church is amazing. To those who think the Catholic Church has big problems--and it does--one look at the people in the church and you know there are still a lot of the faithful in Spain.
After the mass, AlteCocker jointed the long queue to "embrace" the saint. Whether St. James is actually in the tomb is up for grabs. His body was found in 814 AD and, as with much of sainted bodies/body parts it is impossible to know whether the corpse is real or it is a myth. While AlteCocker's Spanish is this side of a bad joke and the mass/sermon were all in Spanish, she did note the phrase "according to tradition" several times. The Spanish faithful queue up to kiss/hug the bust of St. James on top of the tomb. No, AlteCocker did not do this, but she did take a photo there--which seemed to be what all the Spanish were doing (with themselves kissing St. James or whoever it is; AlteCocker's photo was just of the bust). Then you descend into the crypt to see where the alleged St. James (according to tradition) is buried. There was a group of Spanish ladies saying what appeared to be the rosary there. AlteCocker could be wrong about the precise prayer, but the whole scene reminded her of the Orthodox Jewish men who pray at King David's Tomb. David's Tomb in Jersualeum is a similar story to that of St. James. It is another case of no one really knows who is in the tomb but is the traditional site venerated. Whatever your beliefs, you have to be moved at these places because people have been praying there for such a long time.
Exiting the cathedral, AlteCocker had picked up an acoustiguide tour from tourist information (12 euro, 50 euro deposit). It was OK, but, despite the photos on the brochure, AlteCocker had difficulty coordinating the places with the discourse. She listened to some of it and returned it. There were, by the way, no English language guided tours of the town scheduled on the day AlteCocker was there. There was one of the roof, but, after standing through the mass, AlteCocker bagged that one.
In Santiago AlteCocker stayed at Hotel Nest Syle--a hotel she simply parked next to (or double parked next to) and lucked out with a single room for 40 euro with breakfast. Hotel was fine but a bit noisy at night. Breakfast was continental, but decent with a large array of items.
The first night in Santiago, upon recommendation of the young man at the desk, AlteCocker ate at Maria Castana and had squid, a local specialty. She tried returning to the restaurant on the following day for lunch, but it was full up and the restaurant at which she ended up eating did not provide as good a meal. Both restaurants were in the old city.
The car was parked at a discount through the hotel for 10 euros per day in one of the lots that can be found surrounding the old city to accommodate tourists. As with all cities, once you get there, the best thing to do with a car is to find a secure parking lot and leave it.
So, Portugal did not work out, but Santiago did. By the way, AlteCocker's home exchanger said the record keeping for the roads in Portugal is a total mess, so hopefully there will be no bill, but AlteCocker will leave the money anyway. Better to be honest, lose a few bucks, and leave without any problems.
Coming home AlteCocker attempted to find this boat ride through a canyon but gave up for the day when the road ran out (something the GPS did not anticipate). She did get a couple of photos of the canyon. She will go back from the other side of the canyon, where it is accessible later in the trip, but, after realizing that it was not accessible from the the autoroute that comes into Salamanca from Galicia, simply drove home. In the quest for the canyon, however, there was some driving around in very rural Spain (and sometimes in circles). It was all interesting, but Santiago de Compostela will be the longest journey from Salamanca planned. Lots of driving on this side trip--and maybe some fines in Portugal! By the way, AlteCocker will certainly pay for any tolls/fines or whatever from Portugal should my home exchanger get a bill.
Another Slow Day
AlteCocker slept in after her car adventures and got started late. The highlight today was a visit to the old buildings of the university. So much of this town closes down midday for the siesta that it is hard to do any intensive tourism. The siesta can be 4 hours in some places! You cannot eat lunch for 4 hours and AlteCocker is not staying right downtown. So, going into town early just ends in dead time midday when everything but the restaurants are closed. The small market with food stalls stays open to 3:00pm, but the market in Salamanca is really small and AlteCocker has enough photos of hanging ham legs--a specialty of the area.
The old university building did not reopen after the siesta until 5:00pm. AlteCocker spent a good 2 hours there taking the usual acoustiguide tour. She would recommend not renting the acoustiguide because everything is explained in English and much of the acoustiguide tour merely repeats it. However, if you speak another language, say French, the signs are only in Spanish and English and then you should get the acoustiguide. It was only 2 euros so no big deal one way or the other. The old university building has an elaborate facade and don't forget to look for the frog! The frog is considered good luck by students--especially if they find it without assistance. AlteCocker had assistance so she guesses no good luck on her exams. Oh, wait, she is not taking any exams.
Dinner was downtown. AlteCocker ordered fried bits of piglet--having had the roast piglet earlier in the trip. The roast piglet was good. The fried bits were awful--full of huge pieces of fat. You could even see some hair on the skin. Yuk! AlteCocker will not be ordering that again, but you do make food mistakes on vacations when you don't really know. Dessert was some sort of flan/pudding with a vanilla cookie floating on top--not something AlteCocker will try again either. At least the sangria was good. Town was just beginning to get animated when AlteCocker took the bus home at 8:30pm. It is now 9:30pm and the kids are still yelling and running around below AlteCocker's apartment window.
Tomorrow, who knows? Spent the evening on the internet dealing with her Spanish home exchanger's problems back home: She couldn't start the Prius. The problem was unfamiliarity and AlteCocker got one of the neighbors involved so hopefully the car business can get sorted out. There are lots of small problems during a home exchange. AlteCocker remembers being stymied one time about putting a European car into reverse until she realized you had to lift this ring. This time there was "gas cap panic" when she couldn't figure out how to release the gas cap to fuel the car. Everything gets sorted eventually.
The old university building did not reopen after the siesta until 5:00pm. AlteCocker spent a good 2 hours there taking the usual acoustiguide tour. She would recommend not renting the acoustiguide because everything is explained in English and much of the acoustiguide tour merely repeats it. However, if you speak another language, say French, the signs are only in Spanish and English and then you should get the acoustiguide. It was only 2 euros so no big deal one way or the other. The old university building has an elaborate facade and don't forget to look for the frog! The frog is considered good luck by students--especially if they find it without assistance. AlteCocker had assistance so she guesses no good luck on her exams. Oh, wait, she is not taking any exams.
Dinner was downtown. AlteCocker ordered fried bits of piglet--having had the roast piglet earlier in the trip. The roast piglet was good. The fried bits were awful--full of huge pieces of fat. You could even see some hair on the skin. Yuk! AlteCocker will not be ordering that again, but you do make food mistakes on vacations when you don't really know. Dessert was some sort of flan/pudding with a vanilla cookie floating on top--not something AlteCocker will try again either. At least the sangria was good. Town was just beginning to get animated when AlteCocker took the bus home at 8:30pm. It is now 9:30pm and the kids are still yelling and running around below AlteCocker's apartment window.
Tomorrow, who knows? Spent the evening on the internet dealing with her Spanish home exchanger's problems back home: She couldn't start the Prius. The problem was unfamiliarity and AlteCocker got one of the neighbors involved so hopefully the car business can get sorted out. There are lots of small problems during a home exchange. AlteCocker remembers being stymied one time about putting a European car into reverse until she realized you had to lift this ring. This time there was "gas cap panic" when she couldn't figure out how to release the gas cap to fuel the car. Everything gets sorted eventually.
Aldeadavila de la Ribera--Spain's Grand Canyon
Today AlteCocker headed out west of Salamanca to find that canyon that eluded her from the wrong side of the river. She is happy to report that she found it. The town (Aldeadavila, etc.) was a little under 2 hours from her home exchange apartment. There are boat tours of the canyon at noon and 6:00pm (summer hours). Since AlteCocker did not leave the house until about noon, the 6:00pm boat ride was the only option. It might be the best option anyway, as the earlier boat ride gets booked up quickly and the crowd later in the day is thinner. The cost was 12 euros for adults. More information on the boat ride can be found here. The website--and the dialogue on the tour--is in Spanish only. The website also contains information for a hotel in the town--owned by the same family that runs the boats.
To get to the boat, you turn at a sign for the Playa del Rostro and just follow the road until it runs out. Good nerves and ability with a stick shift are required to navigate this road! You also have the pleasure of anticipate the drive back up after the boat cruise finishes. AlteCocker did the first bit all in 1st & 2nd gear. Every time she tried 3rd gear (and the Volkswagen she is driving has 6 gears plus reverse), she quickly had to downshift. If you successfully do this road up and down you do deserve some sort of medal. AlteCocker made it down and out without incident.
Since the dialogue was entirely in Spanish, the owner gave me a CD of the trip with an English dialogue as a gift. We got to talking (well as much as you can get to "talking" with someone whose language you don't speak) and she just gave me the CD. Very nice people. The dialogue is very detailed. We saw lots of birds (eagles and vultures mostly). Since it was late in the day, lots of eagles soaring on the thermals.
Aldeadavila is a very quiet place where people go to walk and enjoy nature. Lunch was at the restaurant in the hotel owned by the same people that do the boat trip. A nice menu for 12 euros, but, as usual, AlteCocker had trouble ordering. There was no menu. They just read things off--adding to the confusion. In the end, AlteCocker had gazpacho for the first course because at least she knows what that is, pork chops for course two (adjacent table suggested that was the best option) and flan for dessert (again because AlteCocker knew what that was. She did order water not wine (often it's one or the other; you want both, you pay extra) because she was driving--and it turned out to be a good idea when she navigated that crazy road down to the boat.
Coming home, all of a sudden there was a "bing" noise. At first AlteCocker thought it was the GPS but then she noticed the nasty little oil light on in the car. A beeline was made to put oil in the car and thankfully the light went out. Both the first home exchanger in Salamanca and myself have put a lot of kilometers on the car, so that might have been the cause. With 2 weeks left in Salamanca, AlteCocker wants to leave everything just as she found it. And that was today. Tomorrow, AlteCocker will stay close to home and do a museum or something in Salamanca. The car gets a vacation tomorrow.
To get to the boat, you turn at a sign for the Playa del Rostro and just follow the road until it runs out. Good nerves and ability with a stick shift are required to navigate this road! You also have the pleasure of anticipate the drive back up after the boat cruise finishes. AlteCocker did the first bit all in 1st & 2nd gear. Every time she tried 3rd gear (and the Volkswagen she is driving has 6 gears plus reverse), she quickly had to downshift. If you successfully do this road up and down you do deserve some sort of medal. AlteCocker made it down and out without incident.
Since the dialogue was entirely in Spanish, the owner gave me a CD of the trip with an English dialogue as a gift. We got to talking (well as much as you can get to "talking" with someone whose language you don't speak) and she just gave me the CD. Very nice people. The dialogue is very detailed. We saw lots of birds (eagles and vultures mostly). Since it was late in the day, lots of eagles soaring on the thermals.
Aldeadavila is a very quiet place where people go to walk and enjoy nature. Lunch was at the restaurant in the hotel owned by the same people that do the boat trip. A nice menu for 12 euros, but, as usual, AlteCocker had trouble ordering. There was no menu. They just read things off--adding to the confusion. In the end, AlteCocker had gazpacho for the first course because at least she knows what that is, pork chops for course two (adjacent table suggested that was the best option) and flan for dessert (again because AlteCocker knew what that was. She did order water not wine (often it's one or the other; you want both, you pay extra) because she was driving--and it turned out to be a good idea when she navigated that crazy road down to the boat.
Coming home, all of a sudden there was a "bing" noise. At first AlteCocker thought it was the GPS but then she noticed the nasty little oil light on in the car. A beeline was made to put oil in the car and thankfully the light went out. Both the first home exchanger in Salamanca and myself have put a lot of kilometers on the car, so that might have been the cause. With 2 weeks left in Salamanca, AlteCocker wants to leave everything just as she found it. And that was today. Tomorrow, AlteCocker will stay close to home and do a museum or something in Salamanca. The car gets a vacation tomorrow.
Another day of Local Sights in Salamanca
AlteCocker simply cannot do long drives every day so today she stayed home. She slept in and didn't get started until late. Knowing everything closes 12-4 in Salamanca, if you miss the morning you are toast until at least 4pm--and sometimes later. The Spanish midday siesta is rough on tourists. Even the museums close and often don't reopen until 5:00pm in all but the mega sights.
So the morning was wasted and AlteCocker has a late coffee and muffin (Spanish word for "muffin" is "muffin") at Vasco da Gama--the little place on the corner near the apartment that specializes in things Portuguese (hence the name). They gave me some Portuguese thing to taste this morning. As with most pastries here it had a creamy texture. The pastries tend to be based on cream or eggs here.
Then it was off to downtown on the bus. Even some of the drivers are getting to know AlteCocker. She tried getting off one stop later than Plaza Mayor to see where the stop was. Turned out that neither stop was convenient for her first destination--the small but very good Museo Art Nouveau y Art Deco. The star of the show is really the building which has a courtyard made of colored glass. The collection has some interesting pieces but this is a small museum. AlteCocker was familiar with Art Nouveau from her home exchange in Nancy many years ago. Nancy was the hub of the movement at the beginning of the 20th century. There were some stunning furniture pieces as well as glass. The museum then turns into a mishmash with a lot of other things--most noticeably dolls that resulted from local donations. Best thing about the museum is that it does not close for a midday siesta.
After the museum, AlteCocker had a tapas of tempura for late lunch/early dinner at an adjacent restaurant. It was a delightful change from all the pork on the menus in this region of Spain. Then she went on to visit a convent (just another cloister), monastery (yes, another cloister) and the adjacent church of St. Estaban (St. Stephen). The church was the usual baroque Spanish style. AlteCocker then meandered into the central Plaza Mayor for ice cream and a sangria sitting down at one of the tables and watching the passing scene. She saw a guy dressed in drag with a pink wig and some girls protesting about something but she couldn't read the signs or get a good photo of it. They all seemed to be having a good time. Then it was time for the bus home.
So the morning was wasted and AlteCocker has a late coffee and muffin (Spanish word for "muffin" is "muffin") at Vasco da Gama--the little place on the corner near the apartment that specializes in things Portuguese (hence the name). They gave me some Portuguese thing to taste this morning. As with most pastries here it had a creamy texture. The pastries tend to be based on cream or eggs here.
Then it was off to downtown on the bus. Even some of the drivers are getting to know AlteCocker. She tried getting off one stop later than Plaza Mayor to see where the stop was. Turned out that neither stop was convenient for her first destination--the small but very good Museo Art Nouveau y Art Deco. The star of the show is really the building which has a courtyard made of colored glass. The collection has some interesting pieces but this is a small museum. AlteCocker was familiar with Art Nouveau from her home exchange in Nancy many years ago. Nancy was the hub of the movement at the beginning of the 20th century. There were some stunning furniture pieces as well as glass. The museum then turns into a mishmash with a lot of other things--most noticeably dolls that resulted from local donations. Best thing about the museum is that it does not close for a midday siesta.
After the museum, AlteCocker had a tapas of tempura for late lunch/early dinner at an adjacent restaurant. It was a delightful change from all the pork on the menus in this region of Spain. Then she went on to visit a convent (just another cloister), monastery (yes, another cloister) and the adjacent church of St. Estaban (St. Stephen). The church was the usual baroque Spanish style. AlteCocker then meandered into the central Plaza Mayor for ice cream and a sangria sitting down at one of the tables and watching the passing scene. She saw a guy dressed in drag with a pink wig and some girls protesting about something but she couldn't read the signs or get a good photo of it. They all seemed to be having a good time. Then it was time for the bus home.
AlteCocker is an Amateur. El Escorial is closed Monday, So. . . .
Well, yes, AlteCocker made a stupid amateur mistake today. She drove almost 2 hours to see El Escorial and, well, the headnote says it all. She thought she checked the guidebooks she has and she obviously did not check closely enough.
So it was "Does she just drive home or does she see something else?" Driving home would admit defeat, so she came up with another idea: Segovia. Segovia was a little less than an hour away and AlteCocker decided to make lemonade from lemons. She spent about 4-5 hours in Segovia. She had lunch at a rip off restaurant adjacent to the fabulous Roman era aqueduct (She knew what she was doing. She wanted to look at the aqueduct). She had some tasteless fish and a good dessert that was supposed to be a specialty of Segovia.
After lunch AlteCocker schlepped through the old city to Alcazar, an old castle with many moorish influences. I have to tell you that Segovia is a strenuous city. You can climb to the top of the aqueduct and view it from on high, but AlteCocker--being an AlteCocker--made the choice to schlep through the entire Old City (up and down, down and up in the European fashion)--to see Alcazar rather climb the up on top of the aqueduct just to get the photo. She will have to live without the photo. She got photos of Alcazar instead.
After the substitution of Segovia for El Escorial, AlteCocker has learned her lesson: Check online as well as in the guide book to be doubly certain. In any event, she didn't see El Escorial, but Segovia, which she did not think she would see, was added. No loss there.
So, it all worked out in AlteCocker fashion.
So it was "Does she just drive home or does she see something else?" Driving home would admit defeat, so she came up with another idea: Segovia. Segovia was a little less than an hour away and AlteCocker decided to make lemonade from lemons. She spent about 4-5 hours in Segovia. She had lunch at a rip off restaurant adjacent to the fabulous Roman era aqueduct (She knew what she was doing. She wanted to look at the aqueduct). She had some tasteless fish and a good dessert that was supposed to be a specialty of Segovia.
After lunch AlteCocker schlepped through the old city to Alcazar, an old castle with many moorish influences. I have to tell you that Segovia is a strenuous city. You can climb to the top of the aqueduct and view it from on high, but AlteCocker--being an AlteCocker--made the choice to schlep through the entire Old City (up and down, down and up in the European fashion)--to see Alcazar rather climb the up on top of the aqueduct just to get the photo. She will have to live without the photo. She got photos of Alcazar instead.
After the substitution of Segovia for El Escorial, AlteCocker has learned her lesson: Check online as well as in the guide book to be doubly certain. In any event, she didn't see El Escorial, but Segovia, which she did not think she would see, was added. No loss there.
So, it all worked out in AlteCocker fashion.
La Alberca
OK, today's drive was to La Alberca, a town that is highly recommended for its ideal rural ambiance. AlteCocker found it overly touristed with campgrounds, etc., for the Europeans who move around en masse that way in July and August when the kids are out of school and the weather is warm. Still, it was a nice change from the usual churches. AlteCocker wonders how Spain can maintain all those cathedrals. She imagines many are in need of major repairs. While Spaniards continue to put on the usual festivals schlepping statues of saints all over the town, etc., fewer of them actually are practicing Roman Catholics. As a young person told me, you start thinking about the things religion wants you to believe and you can't believe that anymore. While the US appears to be behind the European curve on this, it is happening in the US--which is why some fundamentalists who can't cope with the modern nonreligious world are so vocal with their opinions and try to be manipulative in politics (in AlteCocker's opinion--not given to incite holy war on the site).
There will be multiple statue schleppings on August 15th--a huge Catholic holiday in much of ostensibly Catholic Europe where it now functions as an excuse for a day off no matter what your faith or lack thereof. La Alberca is a place noted for its August 15th statue schlepping, but there was enough trouble in the small town with parking today that she does not think she will schlep there for the statue schlepping on August 15th.
AlteCocker attempted to take a short hike. The route was explained to her in pigeon English by a guy in the national park headquarters in La Alberca. However, the route turned out not to be marked at all. When she got to this intersection AlteCocker did not know whether to go left or right. She went left, decided it was not the route and then went right. Of course she had to return from the left route to go back to where the road split. When she went right, that road wasn't marked either. Fearful of being lost in the woods of La Alberca she eventually returned to start and reexamined the map. The right road appeared to have been the correct one and she did about half of the "right" hike if she read the map correctly when she returned to start. There was no one in the park headquarters to ask as the place was closed for 2 hours for the midday siesta.
AlteCocker returned to her car and after an interesting conversation with some French people from La Rochelle (it is on the Atlantic Coast about halfway down underneath Brittany for those of you unfamiliar with French geography) about their camper (the French guy had basically built the interior himself!), AlteCocker skeddaddled. Since she had eaten a huge breakfast at the local Portuguese pastry show, Vasco da Gama (love the name!) for 4.50 euros she was not much in the mood for another stuffing at lunch. She drove back to Salamanca.
Most noticeable en route was this monastery on top of a mountain called Pena de Francia. Noticing the road to the top, AlteCocker bailed. She contented herself with photos from down below. Looked too difficult for the car she was driving and scary, so AlteCocker bailed. But look below and you will see she was not intimidated for long.
A word on the use of a GPS in Europe. It has the same problems in Europe as it does in the US. It will get you there most of the time but not always by the most efficacious route. AlteCocker having figured out that she was taken via Jabroo in the morning (not to mention 17 miles on an unspeakable road), went home by the non Jabroo route when she noticed a sign for Salamanca. Slowly but surely she is learning her way around and the correct ways of getting places. Of course when she knows all the non Jabroo routes it will be time to skeddaddle permanently.
Sitting around in the house doing nothing is not AlteCocker's style, so she took herself to the Plaza Mayor for a pineapple coconut drink (sort of a nonalcoholic pinacolada. After watching the scene at for 1 1/2 hours she walked over to Casa Paca and had another memorable meal there. What she ordered was filet of ox steak. It was huge, and, contrary to AlteCocker's experiences with European steak, very tender. Now she knows why all those oxen are in the fields eating. She had thought maybe the bullring. That might be the destiny of some of them but most of them are going on the plate.
There will be multiple statue schleppings on August 15th--a huge Catholic holiday in much of ostensibly Catholic Europe where it now functions as an excuse for a day off no matter what your faith or lack thereof. La Alberca is a place noted for its August 15th statue schlepping, but there was enough trouble in the small town with parking today that she does not think she will schlep there for the statue schlepping on August 15th.
AlteCocker attempted to take a short hike. The route was explained to her in pigeon English by a guy in the national park headquarters in La Alberca. However, the route turned out not to be marked at all. When she got to this intersection AlteCocker did not know whether to go left or right. She went left, decided it was not the route and then went right. Of course she had to return from the left route to go back to where the road split. When she went right, that road wasn't marked either. Fearful of being lost in the woods of La Alberca she eventually returned to start and reexamined the map. The right road appeared to have been the correct one and she did about half of the "right" hike if she read the map correctly when she returned to start. There was no one in the park headquarters to ask as the place was closed for 2 hours for the midday siesta.
AlteCocker returned to her car and after an interesting conversation with some French people from La Rochelle (it is on the Atlantic Coast about halfway down underneath Brittany for those of you unfamiliar with French geography) about their camper (the French guy had basically built the interior himself!), AlteCocker skeddaddled. Since she had eaten a huge breakfast at the local Portuguese pastry show, Vasco da Gama (love the name!) for 4.50 euros she was not much in the mood for another stuffing at lunch. She drove back to Salamanca.
Most noticeable en route was this monastery on top of a mountain called Pena de Francia. Noticing the road to the top, AlteCocker bailed. She contented herself with photos from down below. Looked too difficult for the car she was driving and scary, so AlteCocker bailed. But look below and you will see she was not intimidated for long.
A word on the use of a GPS in Europe. It has the same problems in Europe as it does in the US. It will get you there most of the time but not always by the most efficacious route. AlteCocker having figured out that she was taken via Jabroo in the morning (not to mention 17 miles on an unspeakable road), went home by the non Jabroo route when she noticed a sign for Salamanca. Slowly but surely she is learning her way around and the correct ways of getting places. Of course when she knows all the non Jabroo routes it will be time to skeddaddle permanently.
Sitting around in the house doing nothing is not AlteCocker's style, so she took herself to the Plaza Mayor for a pineapple coconut drink (sort of a nonalcoholic pinacolada. After watching the scene at for 1 1/2 hours she walked over to Casa Paca and had another memorable meal there. What she ordered was filet of ox steak. It was huge, and, contrary to AlteCocker's experiences with European steak, very tender. Now she knows why all those oxen are in the fields eating. She had thought maybe the bullring. That might be the destiny of some of them but most of them are going on the plate.
Doing Nothing in Spain
AlteCocker declared a down day today. She slept in, went to the bakery for lunch and bought some motor oil for the diesel Volkswagen she's been driving. The yellow oil light went on in the car while she was driving. She drove straight to a filling station and replaced the oil, but there was not one around the corner. She does not want to be in that position again, so there are 2 liters of the special motor oil for the car in the back seat now just in case. Better to be safe than sorry. AlteCocker did notify the owner of the oil light problem and she said diesel cars burn a lot of oil. Would have been nice to know to pack the motor oil in advance but at least nothing happened to the car on my watch.
The oil was bought at the local Carrefour which had a huge wall of those hams the Spanish love and you see all over. The check out was a single line (like the line at the bank). AlteCocker wishes her local Safeway in the US would copy it. AlteCocker always gets in line behind someone with an involved problem.
AlteCocker spent some time reading and went into town later for some tapas but, insofar as sights are concerned, today is a day off. Hard tourism--not to mention all the driving--tires you out after awhile.
Tomorrow is August 15th--a major holiday in all the Catholic (or formerly Catholic) countries of Western Europe (as previously mentioned somewhere in this excessively lengthy blog). It also sort of marks the end of the vacation season here as parents rush to get children ready for the new school year--a process not unknown in North America. So there will be lots of cars on the road and AlteCocker will join in the fun by going somewhere. Who knows where? But today she is giving herself, the oil burning car, and herself, a rest.
The oil was bought at the local Carrefour which had a huge wall of those hams the Spanish love and you see all over. The check out was a single line (like the line at the bank). AlteCocker wishes her local Safeway in the US would copy it. AlteCocker always gets in line behind someone with an involved problem.
AlteCocker spent some time reading and went into town later for some tapas but, insofar as sights are concerned, today is a day off. Hard tourism--not to mention all the driving--tires you out after awhile.
Tomorrow is August 15th--a major holiday in all the Catholic (or formerly Catholic) countries of Western Europe (as previously mentioned somewhere in this excessively lengthy blog). It also sort of marks the end of the vacation season here as parents rush to get children ready for the new school year--a process not unknown in North America. So there will be lots of cars on the road and AlteCocker will join in the fun by going somewhere. Who knows where? But today she is giving herself, the oil burning car, and herself, a rest.
Siega Verde-Prehistoric rock Carvings
OK, AlteCocker, was refreshed and ready to roll on a very hot August 15th in Spain.
Off to Siega Verde, a prehistoric rock carving site near the Portuguese border in Spain. Lonely Planet got the tour times wrong so it was off to find lunch in a neighboring town in the middle of nowhere. Lunch was at Restaurante-Asador Las Termas in God Knows Where sort of north of the Siega Verde site. Now AlteCocker eats bunny rabbit, but bunny rabbit cooked in a stew with all the bones is not her cup of tea. Nevertheless, that is what she ate along with some sort of asparagus salad and a fresh pineapple artfully cut up for dessert. The pineapple was the best part. The other diners got a kick of AlteCocker trying to order when she didn't know what the stuff was. AlteCocker was sent an "English speaking" waitress whose English was worse than AlteCocker's Spanish. Enuf said. Realistically, though, these people live near the Portuguese border, so that is the language they choose to study in school. No surprise.
AlteCocker made her way back to Siega Verde and got a private tour of the rock carvings because no one else showed up. The tour is divided into 2 parts. The first part was done mostly in English with a heavy dose of Spanglish because the guy doing it did know some English (better than AlteCocker knows Spanish). The second part, which included a walk down to the Rio Agueda to view some of the carvings, was done by another guy who spoke no English. Some how we communicated. Very slow Spanish and hands. The carvings are not what AlteCocker imagined when the word sculpture had been used. Instead of prehistoric paintings in caves seen by AlteCocker during her stay in Toulouse, these carvings were made by repeatedly banging a stone into the rock and making a series of dots--sort of like a child's connect the dots picture. If you have any interest in prehistory, there are just tons of sites in France and Spain and AlteCocker was told to visit one called Vale do Coa in Portugal which is more impressive than Siega Verde. With still a lot on her "to do" list and only a week left in this home exchange, the carvings in Portugal will have to wait for another time--if ever.
There was a thought about doing a hike, but it was so hot that AlteCocker took the easy way out and drove home.
Off to Siega Verde, a prehistoric rock carving site near the Portuguese border in Spain. Lonely Planet got the tour times wrong so it was off to find lunch in a neighboring town in the middle of nowhere. Lunch was at Restaurante-Asador Las Termas in God Knows Where sort of north of the Siega Verde site. Now AlteCocker eats bunny rabbit, but bunny rabbit cooked in a stew with all the bones is not her cup of tea. Nevertheless, that is what she ate along with some sort of asparagus salad and a fresh pineapple artfully cut up for dessert. The pineapple was the best part. The other diners got a kick of AlteCocker trying to order when she didn't know what the stuff was. AlteCocker was sent an "English speaking" waitress whose English was worse than AlteCocker's Spanish. Enuf said. Realistically, though, these people live near the Portuguese border, so that is the language they choose to study in school. No surprise.
AlteCocker made her way back to Siega Verde and got a private tour of the rock carvings because no one else showed up. The tour is divided into 2 parts. The first part was done mostly in English with a heavy dose of Spanglish because the guy doing it did know some English (better than AlteCocker knows Spanish). The second part, which included a walk down to the Rio Agueda to view some of the carvings, was done by another guy who spoke no English. Some how we communicated. Very slow Spanish and hands. The carvings are not what AlteCocker imagined when the word sculpture had been used. Instead of prehistoric paintings in caves seen by AlteCocker during her stay in Toulouse, these carvings were made by repeatedly banging a stone into the rock and making a series of dots--sort of like a child's connect the dots picture. If you have any interest in prehistory, there are just tons of sites in France and Spain and AlteCocker was told to visit one called Vale do Coa in Portugal which is more impressive than Siega Verde. With still a lot on her "to do" list and only a week left in this home exchange, the carvings in Portugal will have to wait for another time--if ever.
There was a thought about doing a hike, but it was so hot that AlteCocker took the easy way out and drove home.
El Escorial, Franco's Grave And Aranjuez Place
AlteCocker is back from her second mega side trip on this lengthy Spanish trip. She drove yesterday to El Escorial arriving late in the day (a good strategy because all the groups are gone by late afternoon). Turned out to be almost no people and a great day to tour this enormous site, officially called The Monastery of San Lorenzo. The town is El Escorial, hence, the name commonly given to the site. What a place! Absolutely overwhelming. There is an acoustiguide tour--which AlteCocker picked up--but it isn't very good. It was a constant frustration that many of the art works described certainly were not there. There are still plenty of works by Titian, Tintoretto and El Greco. AlteCocker spent almost 2 hours in the monastery and clearly did not do everything. She was too exhausted to look at the gardens (which frequently happens to AlteCocker when she visits huge sites like this; the gardens get skipped.
Well, AlteCocker plopped in her chair to recover and saw a sign for the Hotel Florida/Best Western on a main street near Escorial called Floridablanca--so nothing to do with the US' Florida. She went in and snagged a room for the night. When she got to the room, she realized she was really too exhausted to do anything but sleep and that is what she did. Except for the shower, which had a broken bracket, the room was otherwise OK. Breakfast costs extra--as it usually does in Spanish hotels but was huge and included eggs! The broken shower bracket, however, meant when AlteCocker tried to take a shower, the bracket couldn't handle the shower hose with the predicted end--a wet bathroom. AlteCocker would expect more from a hotel affiliated with Best Western.
This morning AlteCocker visited the Valle de los Caidos, a monument that was dedicated the reconciliation of both sides in the Spanish Civil War. Franco is buried in the basilica which is a part of the monument. To say the monument is controversial is to put it mildly. The basilica is closed. The most salient piece of sculpture is a huge cross on a hill which can be seen from the side of the road on the highway. AlteCocker took some photos of all of this and left. She is not a fan of Francisco Franco (good riddance to bad rubbish insofar as she is concerned). She did observe Spanish people climbing up to see the cross up close. There used to be a funicular but that is closed as well. AlteCocker would never have made a special trip to see this monument, but it is just down from El Escorial, and, well, she is there and it is part of Spanish history. Republican prisoners were used in part to carve the basilica (closed) out of solid rock. Obviously, those who favored the Republic during the Spanish Civil War are not fans of this monument. By the way, throughout Franco's life, he slept every night with the finger of St. Teresa next to his bed; a special guy was assigned to carry the finger. AlteCocker read that the finger is now in Avila where St. Teresa was born. No, she did not visit it. You couldn't make this stuff up, could you?
Finally, AlteCocker st out for the Palace of Aranjuez. This one is located south of Madrid. The GPS was not working because AlteCocker had played with it the night before apparently disabling it. For a long time she could not figure out what she did, but she did find Aranjuez basically using her sense of direction. When she saw the sign for Aranjuez she was much relieved. When she got there, before entering the palace, she spent sometime fixing the GPS. The surprise was that the GPS took her back to Salamanca almost exactly the same way she had come. Dumb luck was at work!
With some trepidation, AlteCocker paid for the audioguide at Aranjuez. It was better than the one at El Escorial, but she wouldn't bother with either were she to go again. At Aranjuez the explanations were repeated in part on English language descriptions in the rooms. The palace is sumptuous. Neither Aranjuez nor El Escorial have tours in English and both ban photos (although AlteCocker cheated in the Arabian room because no one was lookin). Aranjuez is known for its gardens, but it was so hot that AlteCocker bailed after a too brief look. She ate a snack of strawberries and cream (a local specialty) at a restaurant opposite the Palace entry, La Cocina de Palacio, where she was entertained by a Peruvian waiter who was clearly managing too many tables--and doing it well. Had she known the restaurant was air conditioned, she would have eaten inside but she would have missed the waiter. He got a nice tip and that was when he told me he was from Peru. He spoke some English. Spain does have a lot of immigrants from South America due to the historical and linguistic connection.
Tonight finds AlteCocker in Salamanca updating this blog so you will all keep reading. Sad to say, less than 2 weeks left of the trip now, but there is still time for more adventures.
Well, AlteCocker plopped in her chair to recover and saw a sign for the Hotel Florida/Best Western on a main street near Escorial called Floridablanca--so nothing to do with the US' Florida. She went in and snagged a room for the night. When she got to the room, she realized she was really too exhausted to do anything but sleep and that is what she did. Except for the shower, which had a broken bracket, the room was otherwise OK. Breakfast costs extra--as it usually does in Spanish hotels but was huge and included eggs! The broken shower bracket, however, meant when AlteCocker tried to take a shower, the bracket couldn't handle the shower hose with the predicted end--a wet bathroom. AlteCocker would expect more from a hotel affiliated with Best Western.
This morning AlteCocker visited the Valle de los Caidos, a monument that was dedicated the reconciliation of both sides in the Spanish Civil War. Franco is buried in the basilica which is a part of the monument. To say the monument is controversial is to put it mildly. The basilica is closed. The most salient piece of sculpture is a huge cross on a hill which can be seen from the side of the road on the highway. AlteCocker took some photos of all of this and left. She is not a fan of Francisco Franco (good riddance to bad rubbish insofar as she is concerned). She did observe Spanish people climbing up to see the cross up close. There used to be a funicular but that is closed as well. AlteCocker would never have made a special trip to see this monument, but it is just down from El Escorial, and, well, she is there and it is part of Spanish history. Republican prisoners were used in part to carve the basilica (closed) out of solid rock. Obviously, those who favored the Republic during the Spanish Civil War are not fans of this monument. By the way, throughout Franco's life, he slept every night with the finger of St. Teresa next to his bed; a special guy was assigned to carry the finger. AlteCocker read that the finger is now in Avila where St. Teresa was born. No, she did not visit it. You couldn't make this stuff up, could you?
Finally, AlteCocker st out for the Palace of Aranjuez. This one is located south of Madrid. The GPS was not working because AlteCocker had played with it the night before apparently disabling it. For a long time she could not figure out what she did, but she did find Aranjuez basically using her sense of direction. When she saw the sign for Aranjuez she was much relieved. When she got there, before entering the palace, she spent sometime fixing the GPS. The surprise was that the GPS took her back to Salamanca almost exactly the same way she had come. Dumb luck was at work!
With some trepidation, AlteCocker paid for the audioguide at Aranjuez. It was better than the one at El Escorial, but she wouldn't bother with either were she to go again. At Aranjuez the explanations were repeated in part on English language descriptions in the rooms. The palace is sumptuous. Neither Aranjuez nor El Escorial have tours in English and both ban photos (although AlteCocker cheated in the Arabian room because no one was lookin). Aranjuez is known for its gardens, but it was so hot that AlteCocker bailed after a too brief look. She ate a snack of strawberries and cream (a local specialty) at a restaurant opposite the Palace entry, La Cocina de Palacio, where she was entertained by a Peruvian waiter who was clearly managing too many tables--and doing it well. Had she known the restaurant was air conditioned, she would have eaten inside but she would have missed the waiter. He got a nice tip and that was when he told me he was from Peru. He spoke some English. Spain does have a lot of immigrants from South America due to the historical and linguistic connection.
Tonight finds AlteCocker in Salamanca updating this blog so you will all keep reading. Sad to say, less than 2 weeks left of the trip now, but there is still time for more adventures.
Pena de Francia: To The Top
What the hell is that, you ask? Well, AlteCocker will tell you. The Pena de Francia is this mountain near La Alberca that intimidated AlteCocker when she was near there last week. She told her home exchange partner that, no, she did not take the car up the mountain. Her home exchange partner encouraged her to do it and said the road was perfectly safe.
Having now done it, the road to the top is definitely what AlteCocker calls white knuckle driving. The last 4 kms were positively scary--and the thought of going down again was not something AlteCocker looked forward to with reckless abandon. Nevertheless she and the car survived to tell the tale (and update this blog). At the top are the ruins of a monastery and a functioning church. Really amazing thinking of monks living on top in the old days before the "modern" road. They would have had to be self sufficient big time. The church still holds masses and there is a priest on call (press a button and he will appear) if you need one. Not being of the Roman Catholic persuasion, AlteCocker did not push the button. There is no charge to visit the monastery. The signs are only in Spanish.
The real reason to go to the top of the Pena de Francia, however, is the view. You can look back and even see Salamanca faintly in the distance (It was a hazy day. Maybe if there was less haze, you could actually see Salamanca. Mostly AlteCocker had to use her imagination. Nevertheless you can see spectacular scenery from the top. Many photos were taken, but it is hard to capture the scenery with any camera in a place like Pena de Francia.
Also on top is a restaurant where AlteCocker had the 15 euro fixed price lunch. Her first course was noteworthy because she still doesn't know what she ate. It was cooked. It looked like very large celery but it did not taste like celery. It appeared on the plate with nuts and raisins. Maybe one of you can tell me what it was. Beats me. The other two courses were a steak and an apple compote. At least AlteCocker knew what those things were. Another culinary adventure. There is a bar if you just want a drink and a sandwich. The restaurant is part of the hotel located at the top. If AlteCocker knew she could stay overnight there, she might have packed her bag. Would have been quite an experience after dark (and you definitely do not want to be driving the road up or down after dark). She heaved a sigh of relief when she was finally at the bottom and drove back to Salamanca.
However, her adventures were not over. AlteCocker is staying in an apartment building. The front door key doesn't work very well. AlteCocker gives it a couple of stabs and then, if she can't get in, goes in through the garage. So far so good, but not today. The elevator would not descend into the garage. Rather than try and walk out of the garage, AlteCocker saw some steps. She walked up and tried to get in the building that way. She could not get into the building or out of the stairway. Fortunately, another apartment resident unlocked the door (uses the same key as the front door). He told AlteCocker that there were a lot of problems with the front door keys and showed her how to use it. It worked (at least while he was there). However, the elevator was stuck and would not descend so AlteCocker began a trek up to the 6th floor (that is 6th floor European or 7th floor). At the second floor the elevator was stuck (which is why it would not descend into the garage). AlteCocker pushed the outside button and the elevator closed and began to descend to the numerous stops that had been pushed by frustrated inhabitants of the apartment building. Finally, it stopped on 2 and AlteCocker was able to take it to the 6th floor. Fortunately, she is not still trapped in the stairwell.
The home exchange (and this blog) ends on Saturday, so she only has a few more days of problems with the key. Thank goodness for the Spanish man who let AlteCocker out of her stairwell trap and then showed her how to work the work the balky front door key. Fingers crossed it works the next time.
Having now done it, the road to the top is definitely what AlteCocker calls white knuckle driving. The last 4 kms were positively scary--and the thought of going down again was not something AlteCocker looked forward to with reckless abandon. Nevertheless she and the car survived to tell the tale (and update this blog). At the top are the ruins of a monastery and a functioning church. Really amazing thinking of monks living on top in the old days before the "modern" road. They would have had to be self sufficient big time. The church still holds masses and there is a priest on call (press a button and he will appear) if you need one. Not being of the Roman Catholic persuasion, AlteCocker did not push the button. There is no charge to visit the monastery. The signs are only in Spanish.
The real reason to go to the top of the Pena de Francia, however, is the view. You can look back and even see Salamanca faintly in the distance (It was a hazy day. Maybe if there was less haze, you could actually see Salamanca. Mostly AlteCocker had to use her imagination. Nevertheless you can see spectacular scenery from the top. Many photos were taken, but it is hard to capture the scenery with any camera in a place like Pena de Francia.
Also on top is a restaurant where AlteCocker had the 15 euro fixed price lunch. Her first course was noteworthy because she still doesn't know what she ate. It was cooked. It looked like very large celery but it did not taste like celery. It appeared on the plate with nuts and raisins. Maybe one of you can tell me what it was. Beats me. The other two courses were a steak and an apple compote. At least AlteCocker knew what those things were. Another culinary adventure. There is a bar if you just want a drink and a sandwich. The restaurant is part of the hotel located at the top. If AlteCocker knew she could stay overnight there, she might have packed her bag. Would have been quite an experience after dark (and you definitely do not want to be driving the road up or down after dark). She heaved a sigh of relief when she was finally at the bottom and drove back to Salamanca.
However, her adventures were not over. AlteCocker is staying in an apartment building. The front door key doesn't work very well. AlteCocker gives it a couple of stabs and then, if she can't get in, goes in through the garage. So far so good, but not today. The elevator would not descend into the garage. Rather than try and walk out of the garage, AlteCocker saw some steps. She walked up and tried to get in the building that way. She could not get into the building or out of the stairway. Fortunately, another apartment resident unlocked the door (uses the same key as the front door). He told AlteCocker that there were a lot of problems with the front door keys and showed her how to use it. It worked (at least while he was there). However, the elevator was stuck and would not descend so AlteCocker began a trek up to the 6th floor (that is 6th floor European or 7th floor). At the second floor the elevator was stuck (which is why it would not descend into the garage). AlteCocker pushed the outside button and the elevator closed and began to descend to the numerous stops that had been pushed by frustrated inhabitants of the apartment building. Finally, it stopped on 2 and AlteCocker was able to take it to the 6th floor. Fortunately, she is not still trapped in the stairwell.
The home exchange (and this blog) ends on Saturday, so she only has a few more days of problems with the key. Thank goodness for the Spanish man who let AlteCocker out of her stairwell trap and then showed her how to work the work the balky front door key. Fingers crossed it works the next time.
At Home in Salamanca--End of the Home eXchange
AlteCocker slept in and did some housekeeping at the exchange apartment after her trek up the Pena de Francia. Finally she headed downtown thinking she would see this museum she had missed. Duh. It was Monday and many museums are closed then. No biggie as she can go later in the week. AlteCocker eventually meandered to the Plaza Mayor and plopping herself in a chair at a restaurant called Cervantes, realized she knew the guy at the adjacent table. We had met earlier in AlteCocker's stay touring a convent in Salamanca. We enjoyed our respective dinners and chatted. Then we watched the lights go on on the Plaza and were entertained by a group of "tuna" musicians (has nothing to do with tuna fish, by the way). The group is from the University of Salamanca and entertains in the Plaza Mayor during the week. It was a fun evening but otherwise a restful day. AlteCocker needs to rest up for Madrid--which begins on Saturday when she (sniff) must say good-bye to home exchange number 54.
Tuesday was another lazy day. Some cleaning and finally hauled herself downtown to see a small museum and the famous zodiac ceiling at the University of Salamanca. AlteCocker also located the astronaut on the side of the cathedral. A stone carver put him there during a restoration. Some Salamancans did not care for the astronaut, but he is a big hit with the tourists. AlteCocker basically knew where he was from watching group tours at the exterior of the cathedral. There is supposed to be an ice cream cone as well but damned if AlteCocker could find it.
Today was also the day to load up on frog key chains for souvenirs. They sell them all over. The frog is a sort of a mascot for the University of Salamanca. The frog key chains have batteries and, when you press the button, make croaking noises. AlteCocker is sure that the parents of kids who get one of these will want to kill AlteCocker.
AlteCocker ran into the guy from yesterday, said "Hello" and then went off to eat at Casa Paca again. This time she had goat chops for a main course and red peppers stuffed with meat from a bull's tail as an appetizer. More good Spanish food. Last time for Casa Paca. AlteCocker needs to frequent more budget places.
Tuesday night was laundry again. Last laundry will be Friday. Saturday AlteCocker moves the show to Madrid for 4 nights. No laundry facilities there. If needed, there is some Woolite in the luggage.
Wednesday AlteCocker figured out how to get the car washed as it was full of bird "gifts" from all the driving. Basically, you go to this gas station. There are stations where you do it yourself and then another one where you have to pay first, present the receipt and the guy does it for you. AlteCocker had a tip ready for him at the end, but he disappeared. The Spanish are not, as is true of most Europeans, heavily into tipping. After the car was cleaned--and so she could accumulate a few more gifts from the birds, AlteCocker took a short ride to Alba des Tormes (Alba on the Tormes River--the same river that cuts thru Salamanca). The drive was pretty much a bust up since there was no nice restaurant overlooking the river. AlteCocker ate at one overlooking a bridge over the river and observed a lot of very unscenic traffic. The meal? It wasn't the best.
AlteCocker cleaned out the car and parked it in its basement "home" in the apartment building. No more driving. Enuf already! Wash is taken down and put away. More laundry on Friday and that will be the Last Laundry in Europe.
The last two days of the home exchange were spent lazing around and reading Hillary Martel's "Bringing Up the Bodies", her second novel about Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII. This novel focused on the execution of Anne Boleyn. Yes, it is something I could have done at home, but there is a point when you have done too much sightseeing. Tapas was eaten downtown on the second to the last night. On the last day, I packed, vacuumed again, cleaned the bathroom and just ate at the Vasco da Gama--the bar/pastry shop at the corner where I have spent a lot of time. I left the two regular waitresses there with a hefty tip. They have been a regular fixture of my life during my time here--and very nice to me and my lousy Spanish. They kept urging me to try all the different pastries and half the time didn't charge me for some. Maybe this is the Spanish way, but, when waitstaff is extra nice you take care of them.
I took the elevator up to the apartment for the last time. The large suitcase is packed. Some wash is being done as I write this. This will mark the end of the Salamanca blog. The bus for Madrid leaves tomorrow at noon. It is with a bit of sadness that I end this home exchange, but all trips have a beginning and an end--and after all I will have 4 nights in Madrid to follow.
Please see the Madrid blog for what follows.
Tuesday was another lazy day. Some cleaning and finally hauled herself downtown to see a small museum and the famous zodiac ceiling at the University of Salamanca. AlteCocker also located the astronaut on the side of the cathedral. A stone carver put him there during a restoration. Some Salamancans did not care for the astronaut, but he is a big hit with the tourists. AlteCocker basically knew where he was from watching group tours at the exterior of the cathedral. There is supposed to be an ice cream cone as well but damned if AlteCocker could find it.
Today was also the day to load up on frog key chains for souvenirs. They sell them all over. The frog is a sort of a mascot for the University of Salamanca. The frog key chains have batteries and, when you press the button, make croaking noises. AlteCocker is sure that the parents of kids who get one of these will want to kill AlteCocker.
AlteCocker ran into the guy from yesterday, said "Hello" and then went off to eat at Casa Paca again. This time she had goat chops for a main course and red peppers stuffed with meat from a bull's tail as an appetizer. More good Spanish food. Last time for Casa Paca. AlteCocker needs to frequent more budget places.
Tuesday night was laundry again. Last laundry will be Friday. Saturday AlteCocker moves the show to Madrid for 4 nights. No laundry facilities there. If needed, there is some Woolite in the luggage.
Wednesday AlteCocker figured out how to get the car washed as it was full of bird "gifts" from all the driving. Basically, you go to this gas station. There are stations where you do it yourself and then another one where you have to pay first, present the receipt and the guy does it for you. AlteCocker had a tip ready for him at the end, but he disappeared. The Spanish are not, as is true of most Europeans, heavily into tipping. After the car was cleaned--and so she could accumulate a few more gifts from the birds, AlteCocker took a short ride to Alba des Tormes (Alba on the Tormes River--the same river that cuts thru Salamanca). The drive was pretty much a bust up since there was no nice restaurant overlooking the river. AlteCocker ate at one overlooking a bridge over the river and observed a lot of very unscenic traffic. The meal? It wasn't the best.
AlteCocker cleaned out the car and parked it in its basement "home" in the apartment building. No more driving. Enuf already! Wash is taken down and put away. More laundry on Friday and that will be the Last Laundry in Europe.
The last two days of the home exchange were spent lazing around and reading Hillary Martel's "Bringing Up the Bodies", her second novel about Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII. This novel focused on the execution of Anne Boleyn. Yes, it is something I could have done at home, but there is a point when you have done too much sightseeing. Tapas was eaten downtown on the second to the last night. On the last day, I packed, vacuumed again, cleaned the bathroom and just ate at the Vasco da Gama--the bar/pastry shop at the corner where I have spent a lot of time. I left the two regular waitresses there with a hefty tip. They have been a regular fixture of my life during my time here--and very nice to me and my lousy Spanish. They kept urging me to try all the different pastries and half the time didn't charge me for some. Maybe this is the Spanish way, but, when waitstaff is extra nice you take care of them.
I took the elevator up to the apartment for the last time. The large suitcase is packed. Some wash is being done as I write this. This will mark the end of the Salamanca blog. The bus for Madrid leaves tomorrow at noon. It is with a bit of sadness that I end this home exchange, but all trips have a beginning and an end--and after all I will have 4 nights in Madrid to follow.
Please see the Madrid blog for what follows.