Salamanca

Hiya,

So my bus ride went well for the most part, I woke up a few times feeling as though my neck would never function the same way again, but other than that it was really easy and went by pretty fast. While some people have said that I should take buses or trains during the day so that I can see the countryside, I feel that traveling at night is better because a) I don't have to pay for a hostel that night and b) I can sleep for most of it so it makes the 8-12hour rides go by faster.

When I first arrived in Salamanca it was 6:45 am and it was still dark so I just hung out in the cafeteria reading and watching t.v. until it was light enough to walk to my hostel. I got a little lost but I got to see the city as the sun was just coming over the ancient buildings that are all over the place here. Anyways, I have only been here for a little more than 24 hours and I have already taken over 300 pictures. Obviously I cannot post them all, I wish there was a way that I could, but it just takes so long to load so I am going to post as many as I can. Actually, does anyone know how photo bucket or something like that, in which I could post all of my pics, works?

Oh, I forgot to mention that later in the day I was out walking around looking at the outside of the Salamanca University and this little old man came up to me and told me that I wasn't going to be able to find what I was looking for (you will see it in one of the pictures) that far away from the building and so he walked me closer and then proceeded to tell me the entire history of the building and all of the amazing facts about it. I ended up spending almost three hours with him walking around the city and listening to him talk about the history of the buildings, the city, and many other things. He is so knowledgeable about the history of this city and told me that it is because he just loves history and art. But he also has friends that are professors of history, art, and art history at the University so I am sure that is part of it as well. He also was a teacher so there you go. Alrighty, here are some pics.

This is the museum that is attached to the San Esteban Church

This is the San Esteban Church. I went inside it later with the little man I met and this is what it looked like. I wasn't supposed to take pictures because there was a service going on but it was so spectacular that I couldn't help it.

 I thought this was cool even though it is a sewage thing. 

This is a Roman bridge that crosses over a lagoon area.

The New Cathedral

Side View of the New Cathedral

This is backside of the New Cathedral.

Up-close pic of what is above the door of the New Cathedral. All of the following pictures are from inside the New Cathedral.

 This is the Plaza Mayor.  My hostel is really close to here. Well, my hostel is really close to everything here.

This is the other side of the Plaza Mayor. These buildings surround the Plaza so it is pretty much enclosed by them.

This is the top of Palacio Monterey.

This is the Palacio Monterey.

This is the San Benito church. Yesterday I found this on my own and then Miguel brought me back and showed me something that I never would have noticed. 

 This is the Casa de las Conchas, which means the house of shells because all of those bump looking things are shells. Now it is a library. But the inside views are spectacular.

This is from the inside plaza area. The picture on the right shows the Clerecía, which is an amazing church.

Almost all of the palaces and churches have gargoyles or mythical creatures surrounding the tops.

Ok, I have many more pics that I want to upload but I need to go get a snack. I'll post some more later. The internet access that I have at this hostel makes uploading much easier. Hope you enjoyed these ones so far though. 

Rachel