We immediately learned the cafe is named "Novelty" because it's a Novelty if you can get service. Don't get me wrong, the tapas were good. To be fair to the waiters, the place was hopping and they were short staffed -- only two were covering the outside tables, and there were a plethora of said outdoor tables. To be fair to me, I was quite hungry, and people who grabbed tables after us were served before us. That frosts my goat, or whatever the expression is -- I am a bit delirious right now remembering just how hungry I was.
Don't not go to Cafe Novelty just because we had to wait a long time for service. . .and the check. Hopefully it was a one time staff issue. We ate four meals in Plaza Mayor, and that was the only one where the service dicey.
(Editor's Note: Can we get back to Iron Touristing? Writer: Oh, yeah, I sort went off the rails there.)
(Editor's Note: You set me up! Writer: Hey, anytime I can make a Hamilton reference, I darn sure will!)
During lunch, we were entertained by a bridal shower where the young women came in chanting and singing and doing a dance. Then they ran into another bridal party, so they had to hug and chant to each other. Between that and the number of people just strolling through Plaza Mayor, we were thoroughly entertained.
After lunch, we did the Salamanca stroll as laid out in the Rick Steves book on Spain. First stop is Plaza Mayor, which, since we already there, made the walk easy to do.
Plaza Mayor hosted bullfights until 1893, student musician still sing in the Plaza for tips, although not the days we were there. Plaza Mayor was not the first, but built from 1729 to 1755, it is considered the best Plaza Mayor. It also was the major pick-up place years ago, as teenage girls would promenade clockwise around the colonnade while the boys went the other direction until the magic of a tender glance worked.
The Town Hall dominates the square, flying five flags -- the province of Salamanca's flag, the state of Castile-Leon, the country's flag, and even the EU flag (try to find THAT flag flying at a British town hall!).
The plaza also has medallions above the colonnade surrounding the plaza, featuring kings, queens, conquistadors, and writers. Francisco Franco's medallion was cancelled in 2017, which was not soon enough as far as I'm concerned.
From there, we walked all the way to and across the Roman Bridge at the other end of town.
First we went down Calle Rua Mayor, the main street of Salamanca. Thanks to the Rick Steves book, we noted the various facades from back as far as Mudejar days, went past the famed Casa de las Conchas, which is now the public library. Its facade has more than 300 scallop shells of St. James in a hat tip. We hiked various sections of the Camino de Santiago back in 2017, so the scallop shells embedded in the house, and at various points along the streets, bring back fond memories.
Passing the twin towers of La Clerecia Church, which we would visit the next day, we went to the University of Salamanca, established in 1218 as the oldest university in Spain. We, along with dozens of other people, studied the stunningly-carved grand entrance facade.
Carol and I looked hard for the famous carving of the frog on the human skull. Not surprisingly, Carol spotted it first. The whole door and frame is carved in the Plateresque style. (Yes, there will be a picture of the frog & skull in the photo section).
(Editor's Note: "The Frog & Skull" would make a great name for a pub. Writer: Or a band.)
The first layer of the facade focuses on Isabel and Ferdinand, which is fitting since they granted the money for the building. The net middle section celebrates the Hapsburg Empire in general, but specifically Charles V, and the top section features the pope flanked by Hercules and Venus, as a sign of the universities intellectual independence from Church control.
We also visited the statue of Luis de Leon, who was not related to Ponce de Leon. As an academic, he challenged the Church's control over the word of God by translating part of the Bible into Castilian to make it more accessible. After being jailed for five years by the Inquisition (yes, THAT Spanish Inquisition), he started his first post-imprisonment lecture with "As we were saying. . ." Pretty amazing line.
Monte Python joins the chat.
Our next stop was the Cathedral of Salamanca. We didn't go into any of these buildings I mentioned, saving that for tomorrow. But we went to the facades, with the primary goal of spotting the once-controversial astronaut carving added by a restorer in 1993. This freelancing caused an uproar at first, but now is met with a shrug by locals, as "he's the person closest to God." I'm sure their change in tone had nothing to do with the new-found tourist interest in spotting the astronaut (yes, that picture will be in the photo section too).
We headed down to the Tormes River and crossed the approximately 2,000 year old Roman bridge, which is now pedestrian only. It has beautiful arches and providing a viewing platform to watch the ducks on the river or the storks flying around the Cathedral. There is even a verraco, a Roman-era statue of a bull. The stone bull and the arched bridge is on Salamanca's coat of arms.
We headed back up the hill, past the Cathedral and through the city back to Plaza Mayor, already in love with Salamanca whilst looking forward to seeing more the next day.
Torie's best friend, Alex Weil, did her study abroad in Salamanca and was absolutely entranced by the city. We now fully understand why!
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