¡Vienen los Reyes! ¡Vienen los Reyes! (Salamanca)

After a long flight back from the States, I went straight from the Madrid airport to the Estación de Chamartín to meet Cerena and go to Salamanca. We took Spain’s version of Italy’s IC train and arrived in Salamanca about 3 hours later.

We stayed at the Hostal Revolutum—a hotel that is in the process of being converted into a hostal. For 23 euros/night, we had a private room with 2 beds, private bathroom, heat, a t.v., towels and sheets included, maid service, and a small balcony. Oh, and did I mention that it was about 20 feet from the Plaza Mayor? This was definitely still a hotel. We got a map, marked the streets with all the places Inés told me about, and headed out in the rain.

First, we went to my favorite place in all of Salamanca and possibly in all of Spain—the Plaza Mayor. Although there is a Plaza Mayor in the majority of cities in Spain (central and Northern), the one in Salamanca is exceptionally special not only in its architecture but also in its atmosphere. There are people everywhere all the time—talking, playing, eating churros, drinking café, and just enjoying every aspect of life. If you ever feel like you want to “be in the moment,” go spend a few hours (or even a few minutes will do it) in Salamanca’s Plaza Mayor.

After people watching for a bit, we went to the Bar Cervantes (in the Pl. Mayor) for some sangria and pinchos (the name for “tapas” in Salamanca). Then we explored a much more local part of the city where we went for more tapas at some places Inés recommended. We got back to our hostal around 11:00, watched “Callejeros, Viajeros,” and went to sleep in preparation for a busy next day.

Our morning of day 2 in Salamanca was relaxed. We slept in and went to a café in the Plaza Mayor for some café con leche and a napolitana (it was great having Spanish breakfast again!) Then we walked to the Puente Romano.

One of the things I love about Salamanca in how old everything feels. I love that every street In the centro is cobblestone and that there is something beautiful and historical on every corner. The Puente Romano is over 2000 years old and although it’s no the most elegant bridge I’ve ever seen, it’s just feels cool (for lack of a better word) to set foot on something that old.

Then we visited the cathedrals of Salamanca. There are 2—the Catedral Vieja and the Catedral nueva. The Catedral Nueva is enormous and a little dark inside, as gothic cathedrals always are. The Catedral Vieja, however, is as its name describes—old, and very beautiful. The altar is made up of a series of paintings portraying various biblical scenes surrounded by gold. The outside of the cathedral is impressive. The doors are excessively big and wooden, and the façade is an old tone in a Tuscan-brown color. There is one other very unique aspect of Salamanca’s Cathedral—there is an astronaut carved out of stone among the hundreds of other religious figures.

After our visit to the cathedrals and our search for the astronaut, we went to see the Casa de Conchas—a house built by a prestigious Salamanca family in the 1500’s decorated with shells all over the exterior walls. It reminds of the Dalí museum in Figueres outside Barcelona (which is decorated with loaves of bread).

As per what is no seemingly my Salamanca tradition, we went to the Chinese restaurant in the centro for lunch. (The “tradition” started when I went to Spain for my first time as a college sophomore and didn’t know how to find good Spanish food).

Before going back to our hostal for a little while, we went to a pasterlería in the Plaza Mayor to buy our first (and hopefully not our last!) roscón de Reyes for Día de los Reyes Magos. A roscón is a mix between sweet break and cake with fuity-gummy candy and sugar on top. They are shaped in a circle or an oval and there is a figurine hidden inside. The roscón is traditionally only eaten on the 5th and 6th of January for Día de los Reyes. So, we stood in line for 40 minutes waiting to get our roscón while we watched mothers and grandmothers buy their own roscones for their families. We watched one woman pick up her pre-order 3 kilo roscón (6.5 lbs.)! We went back to our hostal and dove into our first roscón (after taking a few pictures with and of it of course).

Around 4:30 we headed back out into the cold to visit our last monument/historical sight of the trip—la Universidad de Salamanca, one of the oldest universities in Europe. There are 2 buildings you can visit—the old library and old classrooms (many of which are still used for conferences and lectures today). The university is gorgeous—it feels like a castle. Walking through the place where famous people like Cervantes studied makes you feel like yuou want to spend the rest of your life learning and studying. Salamanca is a student-centered city much like Granada and everything in the city seems to somehow relate back to the university and its students.

We started to walk back through the Plaza Mayor around 6:30, but stopped about 200 yards away in a chocolatería called Valor (a Spanish chocolate company like See’s or Godiva in the U.S.). It was packed full of families and older people—always a good way of finding good places to eat or have coffee!) We walked inside and squeezed our way through all of the people into a tiny open space at the bar. We ordered “una taza de chocolate caliente a lo suizo con fideos” (translated on the menu as: “A cup of hot chocolate with whip cream and noodles”)—“fideos” means noodles and sprinkles in Spanish). I can safely say that this was the best cup of hot chocolate I have ever had. There was hardly any milk in it and it tasted more like a cup of hot chocolate syrup with a thick, almost mouse-like cream on top. I would go back to Salamanca just to have a cup of that “hot chocolate” again.

We walked through the Plaza Mayor and they were still setting up for the parade, so we did some shopping (window only) before going back to the Plaza Mayor around 7:15. When we got there it was packed! People had been standing out in the Plaza since 6 in order to find a good spot to watch the Reyes parade. The parade started at 8:30 and it was ridiculously random and so much fun to watch. It was like a combination of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, Halloween, a Christmas pagent, and 4th of July all rolled into one event. There were Alice and Wonderland characters, pirates, fireworks, elves, floats, and of course, the three kings. Near the end of the parade, the 3 kings came out on the main balcony on the 2nd level of the Plaza Mayor to speak to the town. Their speech was about how happy they were to be returning to Salamanca, “the most beautiful city in the world.” They then talked about the future and told the kids to keep being good and listening to their parents and grandparents. They talked about the magic of Día de los Reyes and told the kids why it was so magical. The reason they gave for why this day was so magical was that it brought family together to celebrate their faith and be thankful for their love, for nothing is more magical than this.

After the parade we went to our last and our best tapas bar, went back to the hostal, packed, and fell asleep watching the news, which was all about the festivities we had just witnessed in the Salamanca and the ones we hadn’t in all other parts of Spain. It was a great trip and the perfect way to re-acclimate myself to Spanish life. Adiós Salamanca, y hasta pronto.