More adventures!

So sorry that I have not written in a while. Life has become extremely busy in Leon and a rarely have a spare minute. It is sometimes a bit full on but I prefer it that was because then I don’t miss home too much and I know I am making the most of my Spanish experience!

 I have been a little sick over the last few weeks but hopefully the last of the sniffles will go in the next few days and I can get back to feeling normal.

My classes have been going really well and I feel that I am understanding more and more each day. I still need to work really hard on my speaking but I am sure my skills will develop eventually.

Every fortnight we have a group excursion run by the Art History professor at the Centro. A few weeks ago we did a ‘Ruta Meseta’ trip where we visited several churches (one was built in 937!), two castles and a few other interesting sites along the way.

Yesterday we went to Salamanca which is about 2 or so hours from Leon by bus. Salamanca is home to the oldest university in Europe and numerous famous Spaniards have been educated there.

When we first arrived we walked across the Roman Bridge (Puente Romano) that crosses the Rio Tormes. This was a particularly exciting experience for me as we have just read the book ‘Lazarillo del Tormes’ in my Spanish Literature class. The central character of the story, Lazarillo/Lazaro was apparently born on the banks of the river Tormes and lived for a time in Salamanca. On the other side of the bridge there is a famous statue of the boy Lazaro with ‘el ciego’, the blind man he first works for. Lazaro works as a guide for this man for some time and they both play tricks on each other. I really loved the story so to be by the river and see the famous statue was a great experience.

Front door of the cathedral

We then explored Salamanca, visiting the old and new cathedrals (both of which are stunning) and the University of Salamanca itself. The old cathedral features Roman architecture and is incredibly beautiful. The new cathedral is of a Gothic style and took 200 years to complete, with the final touches only occurring recently. There are thousands of beautiful stone carvings all over the walls, and there has even been some modern day touches with an astronaut and a demon with and ice cream being the most recent carvings!

The astronaut

Demon with an icecream

There is also a very special carved wall at the entrance to the university. We were extremely excited about seeing it as there is a tiny frog carved somewhere into the wall that, if you find it, you’ll have exceptionally good luck. It is particularly lucky for students who will apparently be assured victory in examinations if they can find him. However if you get told where his is and don’t find him for yourself then you will get squat. Unfortunately some “helpful” man shined a light on exactly where the frog was with a little mirror so no good luck for me. I was rather annoyed to be honest but I bought a little key ring of the frog that has ‘buena suerte’ (good luck) written on it so hopefully some good vibes will come my way!

There were also several other fascinating sights including the famous graffiti by a man called Victor who, on completing his degree, wrote his name on the university wall in sangre de toro (bull’s blood). It can still be seen today and has become a bit of a tradition, although people just use paint now thankfully!

Victor's graffiti

Overall it was a fantastic day and I got a LOT of excellent photos as you can see!

Beautiful well with hundreds of 'love locks' attached.

Casa de las Conchas

Governmental building

At the top of the Cathedral

Old Roman Cathedral

View from the Cathedral (of the river Tormes)

Plaza Mayor

Muchos besos, Clare xx