Day 2 - Salamanca

Today was the beginning of our journeys out of town on the world famous trains of Spain.  We left early to take a Renfe train to the old city of Salamanca.

Standing on the train platform.  It was cold so we were dressed warmly

We left our apartment at 7:30 am to make sure we made it in time to catch an 8:55 am Renfe train to Salamanca.  The trains here are wonderful.  For some reason we are constantly hungry here and bread and biscuits/pastries are the go to snack food.  Upon arrival we took taxis to Plaza Mayor and immediately purchased some fresh bread and biscuits before moving into the Plaza to meet Ines Velasco our private tour guide at 11 am.  She was a wonderful person, with a warm personality and a cornucopia of knowledge of Salamanca.

Plaza Mayor.  There is an exhibition of important women in Salamanca history to honor Women's day

One of the women honored in the exhibition

First was a tour of the university, which is one of the oldest in Europe and celebrating their 800th year of operation this year.  While Salamanca is a small town of less than 150,000 people, it retains a very cozy and warm feel.  There are over 35 thousand students from all over the world on campus which makes it a very vibrant and exciting place.

  

A countdown timer celebrating the 800th year of the university

      

    

One of the most curious things about the university is how the PhD candidates are honored and how they leave their mark behind.  Upon being confirmed as candidates for graduation, the candidate is expected to treat his board and advisers at the university pub.  The chef makes pastries only for this occasion with a recipe created for this occasion and known only to the chef.  In addition the graduate marks his or her campus building with a sign with the name and year of graduation.  This tradition has been going on for 800 years.

Entrance to the University pub.  Notice the White Horse Scotch poster above the door.  Fine whiskey!

One of the campus walls with the inscriptions of PhD graduates

Close up of the Victory sign

Next up was a walk through the old town of Salamanca including multiple markers of the world famous Camino trail and the hostels for the pilgrims that travel the trail.

One of the hostels for Camino travellers

The Camino marker pointing the way of the Camino on the street

The highlight of the town was the old roman aqueduct now used as a pedestrian bridge across the river.

The Roman aqueduct still used by pedestrians

After the tour we had lunch in Plaza Mayor where Sunil and Surender shared a Tuna sandwich and a seafood Paella.  As I said, we seem to be hungry a lot here. 

A pleasant surprise for the day was the addition of Vanya Wanchoo and her 2 year old son Yasin.  Vanya is married to Cherry's sisters son Rohit.  While it was great to have Vanya with us in Salamanca, the star of the trip was Yasen.  He is a really happy, active boy that loves life.  His talent for scootering around town is a sight to behold.  I don't think I can handle a scooter like he can!  Video of Yasen scootering around will be uploaded soon.

The energizer bunny that is Yasin!

The Zutshi's on the train back to Madrid

We returned to Madrid by 5 pm and took a Metro to Plaza de Espanya and walked around to see the wonderful architecture of Madrid.


  






Vanya had mentioned we should visit a rooftop terrace AZOTEA at Circulo de Bellas Artes.

As we went there, we noticed that the average age there seemed to be 20 something and our presence was a bit out of place.  Nonetheless, we were able to grab a table for six, thanks to Renuka's efforts and enjoyed the most expensive tea ever.  They had NO hot water and no coffee and no tea.  Wine was the only drink available with snacks.  The view of the city made it work every Euro!

View of Madrid at sunset

Notice the youthful crowd

Can you guess it was cold!

Since this was our last night in Madrid, we decided to go make a quick trip to the Reina Sofia Museum to see some of Picasso masterpiece painting, the Guernica.

Outside the Reina Sofia Museum

This decision made it rather late and since we had left home really early, we were really tired so decided to pick up some take out Chinese food from a Wok to eat at home.  Yummy, but chili sauce does not exist in Spain.  Bland food but good food.  Loved it.