Lovely, Lively Salamanca

Going to Spain's foremost university town was a revelation -- you could feel the energy and the youth as you walked the streets.

While we didn't get as much sleep as we would have liked, we felt the most joy of any city we've been to.  That's not a knock on Madrid, Toledo, or Avila, but Salamanca is a very lively place.  With more than 30,000 students, the average age of the people we saw in Salamanca was significantly lower than in Avila or even Toledo.

One of the reasons we fell in love with Salamanca was that I lucked into the best VRBO we've ever rented in Europe.  It was a first floor (in Europe, first floor means second floor, with floor "0" being the ground floor.  I know, crazy, eh?) updated apartment with a balcony overlooking Plaza Mayor ("major square").  When I found it on VRBO, I thought it could be pretty cool.  And it was, beyond any expectation that I had.  

Salamanca's Plaza Mayor is considered to be the best in Spain.  And we loved it.  The apartment had little cloth folding chairs, smaller than what you get in the States to watch soccer or softball, but a perfect size for two of us to sit out on the balcony and enjoy a bottle of wine.

There is so much energy and activity in Plaza Mayor, we could people watch for hours.  And, unlike in Madrid, the locals actually eat at the restaurants ringing Plaza Mayor, so we ended up eating lunch and dinner both days in the Plaza, each time at a different restaurant, and we maybe made it to half (four) of the restaurants in the Plaza.

The only drawback of the apartment (there's always one) is that the noise from the plaza (well, actually the drunks either in the plaza or walking through it) made it hard to sleep.  The first night the windows were open to create a nice cross breeze, which resulted in overhearing many loud, drunk discussion.  The second night we shut them, but doing so didn't stop the noise, it only slowed it down.

The first night we were having dinner in the plaza when, at 9:41 pm, all the lights came on for a dramatic effect.  The next night we ate a little earlier, so we were on the balcony when the lights came on.  I shot a video of the lights coming on at 9:42 pm (sundown in Salamanca was around 9:25 pm).

You can watch the eleven second video at this link. 

I going to try to show some discipline and not upload too many photos of Plaza Mayor, but I can't promise.  Let's see what happens:

Town Hall in Plaza Mayor.

Another side of the plaza.

Our apartment is in the corner in

between us.  It is just up to the

right of the umbrella at the end of

the row between Carol and I.

View from our balcony.

Carol on the balcony.

The morning we left, they were

setting up for some big event.

View from dinner after

the lights came on.

A couple of night views from the balcony.

Only nine photos posted.  That's pretty good discipline!