Day 4 - Salamanca

Day 4 was full on Salamancan sight-seeing action and we even had a plan (well sort of...).  First up we visited the University - it looks like there are 2 bits to it so we went into the old bit.  It is, indeed, very old but, to be honest, there's not that much to see.  In fact the facade on the front is pretty fancy compared to the bits inside - in fact the facade contains the frog that is the symbol of Salamanca (although it's well hard to find).  You could see that some of the lecture facilities were ancient although, even then, designed for mass education.  No interactive whiteboards though...

Ancient Lecture Hall

Lovely Old Library

 

That done I had a much better option up my sleeve - Casa Lis.  This was a rich dude's house back at the start of the 20th century.  Consequently it's been created in an Art Nouveau & Deco style and it is now a museum for such.  We both enjoyed going around it and I have to say that they've conserved it brilliantly.  Loads of exhibits were originally bought by the guy who owned the house and a lot more has been donated.  The only thing we didn't really "get" was the dolls exhibition but what the heck.  Would recommend it though.

Casa Lis Roof - Spectacular...

After that, just for good measure, it started raining again.  This happened whilst we were on our way to the roman bridge.  The city and the bridge stand on an ancient highway - The Ruta De La Plata which I think runs right through from the south to the north of Spain.  The bridge is old and it goes across the river.  The Romans built it.  That's about it really.  Also, there's nowhere on it to shelter from the rain (see, the Romans weren't THAT clever).

Now things get a little hazy as I can't remember whether we visited the Cathedral next or the Convent of San Estaban.  It was probably the Convent but I'll write about the Cathedral first - actually it's Cathedrals, plural, but they are built next to one another so it's probably the first time we've visited a semi-detached Cathedral.  We visited the "new" Cathedral which is actually quite old (from C16th) - this was also the "free" Cathedral (no entrance fee) and you could kind of see why.  Basically it was a larger version of the place we visited in Segovia and in some respects was simply the lobby for the older place (from C12th).  So, a massive organ and choir stalls in the middle and lots of dimly lit and fenced off chapels around the sides with varying degrees of gilded and painted wood carvings.   

We didn't go into the old cathedral (well it wasn't free) but I'd seen some of it on t'internet and apart from a big fresco thing at one end there wasn't much to it...

That reminds me - an interesting 10 minutes was spent in the Ciel de Salamanca.  It's in this little building near the Uni and is a type of early zodiacal planetarium.  Very interesting and peaceful(it was dark and nobody else was in).  No pics though, not allowed.

So, to the Convent.  In our guide book this gets a listing but it isn't highlighted like the Uni and Cathedrals which is a shame because it really was impressive and not at all busy.  Basically you got a standard type convent arrangement - cloisters, various rooms, sacristy, etc. Then you’ve got this church next door.  Not another church, surely.  Well, maybe not just another church...  First of all I should say that the church had about 3 other people in it so it felt more tranquil than any of the others we'd been in (which does make a difference). 

Inside it was very light with fewer caged off chapels but basically it had this massive gold altarpiece at one end which was way better lit and more impressive than anything previously seen (in Spain, this week, at least).  At the other end was this huge fresco above a galleried choir / organ area - kind of like the circle in a theatre.  Having viewed all this from ground level you then had the chance to go "upstairs" and look at it from the gallery.  The organist was higher still - a great seat to view proceedings from (although we weren't allowed up there).  I remember now that we definitely did do the convent thing first because the cathedral was a major disappointment afterwards...

San Esteban Altar

San Esteban Choir

We then had a late lunch and a wander about, ending back in the Plaza Mayor.  It wasn't raining now and, in the middle of the square, a big temporary stage had been set up and these African dudes were rehearsing something.  We had no idea what was going on - much singing, shouting, stamping and few acrobatic leaps but it all looked jolly good fun so we thought we'd come back later for the show.

That night we ate out next door but one to the restaurant from the night before then, a little before 10, went to the Plaza for the show.  We sat on a bench whilst the usual pre-show messing about went on.  Then decided to stand near the front as it was obvious we would otherwise see nothing.  What we did get was a show about a white guy making friends with some African chums - singing, dancing and some great acrobatics (including male pole dancing - but none of that mucky stuff...). The only regret was that I didn't take my camera.  I took some shots on the phone but they were pretty rubbish so you won't see them here.  Later on I found out that they are called Cirque Mandingue and here's a flavour of what they were like.