Andar como burro sin mecate.: Ávila y Salamanca

Away we go, off Ávila and then Salamanca, but thankfully not so early this time. Both cities are located in the Castile y León community (Spain is divided into 17 of these autonomous communities, kind of like states in the US), with Ávila only being about an hour and a half away.

What is there to see in Ávila? This little city is famous for its murallas (walls), built in the 11^th century, which are the most complete medieval walls in Spain. They still run around the entire city, or at least the original, historical part. Also, the yemas. But you don’t look at these. Well, I mean, you can, but I would much rather eat them. They are candied egg yolks (I was skeptical at first), and they are so delicious. Yum. I wanted to buy an entire crate full, but I decided to be more frugal and settled on a small box. Best purchase all day.

We went to see La Catedral del Salvador, the first gothic cathedral built in Spain. It started out as a roman cathedral (characterized by simplicity) but was completed in the gothic era (characterized by many symbolic decorations). We also visited La Basilica de San Vicente. What’s the difference between a cathedral and a basilica? Really, just the style of the building. They are both churches and serve the same purpose; however, basilicas used to be centers of business, trade, and government in the Roman days. Over the years, people found them to be great gathering places because of the big open spaces, and so they began to be converted into churches. Our last stop was El Convento y Museo de Santa Teresa, where she was supposedly born. Santa Teresa is the patron saint of Ávila and a well-known Spanish poet (well known in Spain, and maybe in Catholic culture. I had never heard of her until now).

Catedral

Basilica

Inside the basilica

Convento

Just before leaving, we did get to climb up on the walls. They are pretty cool and give you a great view.

Our guided tour of Salamanca was the same day so we had to hurry to make it, because we were running late, as usual (getting a group of 40 people anywhere on time is nearly impossible). Salamanca is home to perhaps the prettiest Plaza Mayor in all of Spain (more on that in a minute) and the oldest university in Spain. La Universidad de Salamanca is also the fourth oldest in Europe, behind Bologna, Paris, and Oxford. It was established in the 12^th century and is still attended today as a public university, although the students don’t attend the original campus. On the walls surrounding the patio in front of the façade, there are still faded letters written in red. When a student passed the exams to graduate from the university, a running of the bulls would be held. The student would kill the bull, mix its blood with oil, and paint what looked like their name on the walls. Interesting way to celebrate graduation. I don’t think BYU would appreciate me smearing cow blood on the walls of the Tanner building when I graduate. Dang, I’ll have to think of some other to celebrate my victory (perhaps a return trip to Spain??? Who wants to come!?) So, apparently Columbus came to this university to consult with the professors before sailing the ocean blue. They said he couldn’t do it because (a) the ships he was using were meant to sail close to shore, not in open water, and (b) they miscalculated the circumference of the earth and said it was too large or something. We all know how well Columbus listened to their advice. Ok, last thing about the university. When people come to see the university, many come specifically to find the tiny frog on the façade. It is supposed to give the students who find it good luck. You can find this little guy on top of a skull. The frog represents human vices (since frogs are generally green, and green is an evil color? Yeah, let’s go with that) and the skull reminds us that life is short. Together they remind us that we need to be careful in life and not get caught up in our vices, because life is short. Specifically, they are there to remind the students not to get so caught up in their studies that they miss what is going on in the world around them. I think sometimes I could definitely use a little, green frog to remind me of that.

In the very middle is the skull with the tiny frog on top.

Of course, we went to go see La Catedral de Salamanca (it’s just a given that we go see the cathedrals, and since there is one in every city, we can always expect to see one). It was breathtaking, as usual. I feel like I say that a lot, but the cathedrals never cease to amaze me. Although they do all start to look the same, that doesn’t mean they get any less beautiful. And you can usually find something interesting about each one. In this particular one, you can find it in some of the detail on the outside. Did you know there were astronauts and ice cream in the 16^th century? According to this artwork, there were. Just kidding. Restoration work was done very recently, and apparently, the sculptors had a sense of humor.

That is a tiger holding an ice cream cone.

Now, La Plaza Mayor. Every night, when it finally gets dark enough, lights are turned on all around the plaza that shine on the buildings and make them look like gold. The buildings in the plaza are all made of sandstone, which gives them the gold appearance. People come here and just sit down on the ground and hang out. I love it. Spaniards are so smart. These plazas are great meeting places and great places to gather with friends and family for food or dessert.

The next morning we got to sleep in a little, and at 11:00 we left Salamanca to start making our way back to Madrid. We left so early because the trip back included two stops along the way. The first was in a little city called Toro. We stopped to see a church that was a good representation of Roman architecture. The best part? The view from the church. It’s situated right on the edge of the bluff and overlooks the lovely Spanish plains. Just wow.

Our last stop was Tordesillas. We came specifically to see El Real Monasterio de Santa Clara, which was a royal palace before it was given to the nuns. But since we came during siesta hours, we had to wait. That is turning out to be a major theme of this trip: what are we waiting for? At any given time, you can usually hear someone ask this question, haha. Anyway, we hung out in their Plaza Mayor; had some lunch; had some ice cream; rested. Then it was off to this monastery. Although filled with Muslim architecture, it was built for the Christians. It was originally a palace built in 1240, but in the 1300s it was gifted to the nuns. Today, nine still live and work there making dulces! You are never allowed to actually see the nuns, so they sit behind this wall and use a Lazy Susan type thing to spin the sweets around to you. Those nuns know how to make some tasty treats. Also, there is a small, portable organ from the 1500s that still works inside the monastery. Occasionally, when special performances are held there, they will bring it out to be played. I wish I could have snapped a picture, but they said ¡no fotos! and there was a security guard following us throughout the tour. I decided not to take my chances.