Hola! This weekend started off with a fun nighttime tour around Valladolid with Juanjo, Rosa, and Raquel (Rosa’s cousin). I absolutely love lights (as evidenced by the fact that Najwa and I still have our Christmas tree up) and when buildings are illuminated, so my jaw was dropped essentially the entire time. Our tour guide explained that the churches and buildings are illuminated different colors based on the biblical calendar. Since it’s Lent now and purple represents Lent, the buildings are all purple! The weather was perfect – it was a clear night and there were tons of people in the streets enjoying a late night drink and tapas.
On Saturday, it was time to head to Salamanca with Ana María (the school coordinator and one of the English teachers I work with) and her family. Ana is from Salamanca and her parents live there, so they go visit every two weeks or so. She invited me to tag along this weekend! It’s about 45/50 minutes south of Tordesillas. We got to her parents house, had a delicious lunch, and walked the 20 minutes from the house to the center of Salamanca. I’ve seen a bunch of Plaza Mayor’s now and let me tell you, Salamanca’s 100% takes the cake for being the most beautiful that I’ve seen so far. This is going to sound dramatic, but it took my breath away. I have some photos, but they don’t nearly do the Plaza justice. AND I didn’t think it could get any better, but we went back later at night and HOLY COW was it incredible all illuminated.
Saturday was spent walking around the city to see the various amazing churches and buildings. I can’t believe how big the Catedral Nueva (New Cathedral) is. It was started in 1513, finished in 1733 and had restorations in 1992 that produced some funny new additions (see below). Unfortunately, it was closed both days we went so I’ll have to go back when we can go in and climb the tower.
On the left, you can see the astronaut that was added during the 1992 renovations.
The University of Salamanca is also an incredible sight. On the façade to the entrance, there’s a ton of intricate carvings and among them is a small frog. Legend has it that if you’re able to spot the frog, you’ll pass your exams at the University and you’ll return to Salamanca at some point. With clues from Ana (since I mean LOOK at the façade below – it would take so long and we didn’t have all day for me to crane my neck), I was able to find the frog! I’m not going to include a photo of where it is, in case you visit one day 😛
On Sunday, we went to a flea market and browsed the aisles. It reminded me exactly of the flea markets I used to go to with Nana in Florida! Afterwards, we went to see if we could climb the Catedral, but the line was too long. We visited the Huerto de Calixto y Melibea, which is a garden based on the famous work by Fernando de Rojas, called Comedia de Calisto y Melibea or known as La Celestina in Spain. It’s essentially the Spanish version of Romeo and Juliet, except it’s a comedy and about how an old woman kept the secret of an affair of two young lovers by allowing them into this garden. Of course that’s the really short version and of course they both ended up dead, but the garden is absolutely beautiful!!
aventuras de alyssa 
Looks so beautiful!! Thanks for sharing!
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