Spain and Portugal (1) - Salamanca

We arrived in Madrid airport around 8:30am. The tourist information desk hadn't even opened. I asked the guy at the information desk about tickets to Salamanca. He told me to go down the hall where I found a ticket booth which opened at 9am. I waited and the ticket guy pretty much told me things I already knew from earlier research: the best way to Salamanca is by train from Madrid's Chamartin station, and to reach the train station, it is best to take the free airport shuttle bus (green) to Terminal 4, and catch a direct train to Chamartin station. He also sold me 2 train tickets (about €20 each) to Salamanca, without ever informing me that he charged €3 fees per ticket.

The train to Salamanca only had 3 carriages, and lots of people got off at Avila, a place we would visit the next day. After checking into our hotel, we first went to Plaza Mayor. The TI office there sells Salamanca card which offers free entries to many places. We wanted to buy it, but they were on a 2-hour lunch break when we got there :(

1. The always magnificent Plaza Mayor.


2. Our favorite store near Plaza Mayor.


3. Where mouth-watering sandwich like these were sold for €3.5 each.


4. Window display at souvenir stores near Plaza Mayor.


5. Window display at souvenir stores near Plaza Mayor.


6. Window display at souvenir stores near Plaza Mayor. Lots of frog souvenir, reasons to come next.


7. Window display at souvenir stores near Plaza Mayor.


8. It happened to be Black Friday when we arrived. Many stores had their Black Friday sales going on :)


9. Casa de las Conchas (The house of the conch shells) is located next to Pontifical University of Salamanca.


10. The house of the conch shells is built from 1493 to 1517 by a knight of the Order of Santiago de Compostela. The façade was decorated with more than 300 shells, symbol of the order of Santiago. The building houses a public library now, so it is free to enter.


11. Salamanca is best known for its university which was founded in 1218. This is the door to the old campus. It is on this door that the famous frog on a skull is located. Legend has it that students who find the frog would pass all the exams that year. It cost €10/person to visit inside, which only offered a few rooms of display, not worth it in my opinion. (For more Salamanca University photos, see next post)


12. The frog on the skull.


13. The amazing Salamanca Cathedral door. This is not the door where they added the astronaut and the ice-cream eating gargoyle in 1992. They are on a side door. It cost €4.75/person to visit the cathedral. That is one thing I don't like about Spain and Portugal. They charge money for people to visit church. (For more Salamanca Cathedral photos, see next post)


14. No picture can do this door justice.


15. This is the door where the astronaut and the ice-cream eating gargoyle are to be found.


16. The astronaut and the ice-cream eating gargoyle. They were added by craftsmen in charge of doing restoration work on the Cathedral in 1992. It’s a regular practice of workers to “sign” their works with some interesting details. The same reason the frog was added hundreds of years ago.


17. Convento de San Esteban (Convent of St. Stephen), another church with amazing door we visited, this one cost €3/person.


18. This staircase inside is interesting.


19. Mary Magdalene appears in the upper section of the staircase.


20. Mary Magdalene appears in the upper section of the staircase.


21. The main church of Convent of St. Stephen.


22. The main altar.


23. The house of the conch shells at night.


24. Plaza Mayor at night.


(To be continued)