Salamanca

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Everything is so beautiful here in Salamanca. Though, I think I may find everything so pretty because I’ve basically never seen anything this old in my life. A lot of these buildings are many times older than the US. I wish I could show you the entire city, but alas, I can’t. So, Kelsie and I decided to be "tourists" for a few hours, and here are a few of my favorite places in Salamanca. The Plaza Mayor I would say would be my very favorite. It is gorgeous, especially at night. It’s a square in the middle of the city where people go to socialize. It’s the most famous plaza in Spain. Not to mention it was used for the movie Vantage Point, starring no one of significance other than Danny Quaid 😊. The Cathedral, which sits next to one of the buildings which house my classes, is also really awesome. It’s unfathomably humongous and really pretty inside. On the entrance to the Cathedral, they added an astronaut into the design when man landed on the moon. Right down the road from that is the façade of the University of Salamanca (USAL). Why all universities don’t have a façade like this one, I will never understand. It is so detailed and pretty, and it just screams, “If you go to school here, you go somewhere important and respected all around the world”. The façade of USAL has a frog hidden within the design. Legend says that if you find the frog without any help, and you are a student, you will receive A’s in all your classes. If you’re just visiting Salamanca and you find the frog, you will return to Salamanca (in other words, don’t try to find it if you decide you don’t want to come back!). But some people say that it’s just good luck to find the frog. There is also a building called La Casa de las Conchas (which translates to the House of the Shells). So on this building is about 200 shells carved out of stone. Another legend says that there’s a treasure in hidden one of the shells, but no one has found it yet. Now, the Casa de las Conchas is the public library. I think it’s so amazing that these buildings that are hundreds of years old are still used for everyday things so people can enjoy them, instead of being shut off from the world and turned into a museum or something.

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Photos

Gözde
My new Turkish housemate

Palacio de Anaya
AKA the department of language studies. Where I have class!

The facade of the Cathedral
Can you find the astronaut?

Closer-up
How about now?

Yeah, they still use it for mass
Would you look at those super nice speakers?! Since we saw that it was used for mass still, Kelsie and I decided to go one Sunday.

Cathedral again
I think this is just after the mass that Kelsie and I attended. Mass is sooo different here than the ones I've been to in the US...not really any singing, very few people go, and the people that do go are over 40. Kelsie and I were the youngest ones there by far.

Facade of USAL
Can you find the frog?

As close as I could get to the frog
It's basically dead-center, on top of the leftmost skull, which is under the smaller ledge on the big column.

Me at La Casa de las Conchas
It's the library

Inside the Library
What library in the US looks like this?

Pretty Garden
From Romeo and Juliet, I think?

Garden
My host mom told me that this is where boyfriends bring their girlfriends to be romantic