Day 7 – Step by Step - Question by Question

After a quick breakfast, it was off to begin our day. First stop, up the hill that never seemed to end and find the Avis dealership to see if it was possible to rent a car for Tuesday. Questions, back and forth, some in Spanish, some in English (thanks to David’s help), a car was secured for Tuesday.

And now to begin the adventure, could we re-trace our steps from our days of being students in 1972.

The steps next to the girl's dorm

First to find Janet’s dorm, not sure we had the correct site, we crossed the street, entered the shoe store, and ask a man who looked to be older than we were, yes, we had the correct dorm.

The Girl's Dorm

Another question, did he remember the disco Hindagala, and we got a big smile, ah yes, great place to dance. He gave us some directions and off we went down the street.

Stinky Meat Market - that does not stink anymore

Next stop was to say hello to Tom’s dorm site. It looked very quiet. We were so hoping that the family that ran the bordering house would walk out but no such luck.

Boy's Boarding House

Now, step by step, we went in and out of alleys asking directions from anyone our age or older until we found what appears to be the old site of that disco where we danced into many late nights.

Tom's Roommate

It is a bar now, and looks run down and may even be closed.

Hindagala Discotec

Next, could we find that restaurant, El Candil, where we celebrated a special meal with our student friends. By chatting with an elderly gentleman, we found the location! It has a different name, but we hope to return for dinner one night this week.

El Candil Location

The beauty of this week has been to really not be be rushed for any reason, so a slow walk down through the shopping area lead us back into the Plaza. Being a university town, there are many high-end clothing shops and many of the names that we are familiar with, I did have to laugh, it is not Victoria’s Secret, but a Woman’s Secret.

Leaving the Plaza Major, we crossed the street and found the Central Mercado, vendors selling many types of seafood, cheeses, fruits and vegetables, and of course, Jamon.

Being tourists, the site to visit today was San Esteban, yes, another church!?!
This site was a monastery for the Dominican Fathers. Entering through the convent portico, one finds themselves in a garden surrounded by ten arches with medallions depicting prophets dating back to 1590.

There were many displays of items brought back from the Dominican Fathers as they were missionaries in Central and South America.

For our Spanish Speaking friends - What does this mean? 

San Esteban like most in Salamanca is extremely ornate.

Probably the most memorable feature of this grand edifice is the entrance. The detailed work in stone is amazing.

Lunch consisted of tapas shared, a small plate is called a tapa and a larger portion is called a Racione.

A Tapa Plate
 

 A Racione

A vacation cannot be called a vacation until there is a nap to be had. The winds had been blowing all day and it was nice to return to our apartment to warm up and enjoy a bit of shut eye. Many businesses and museums close in the late afternoon and reopen up around five. Salamanca is a very quiet place between three and five.

Our find of the day was Museo Art Nouveau y Art Deco - Casa Lis. The museum was hosting “The Great Spanish Masters of the 20th Century” - Picasso-Miro-Dali. This was a temporary exhibition of their graphic artworks. Stepping out of the masters’ exhibits, we were shocked to stumble upon exhibits of porcelain dolls dating back to the 1920s. Of interest were the chriselephantines - Greek, meaning figures made of gold and ivory. This museum is a must go if you find yourself in Salamanca.

Dinner was a foodie experience - El Pecado! We had a dinner for two with multiple courses and a Godello as our wine and still got out of there for less than 80 euros (~$100). The menu can speak for itself, but everything was very good.

However, there were two standouts. The wine list because it came in a letter from the sommelier and was quite extensive.

The other thing note was the little wrapped bags of magic. Very interesting presentation and flavor.

By the time dinner was finished it was pushing eleven o’clock. A short walk back to the apartment to rest up for our next adventure.