It's about time I start updating on the trips I have been able to take :) I will start with the most recent, then write about older trips as I have time. A couple weeks ago we had a
puente, so I traveled around Spain a bit to
Salamanca,
Santiago de Compostela, and
La Coruña.
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| In the Plaza Mayor |
It was great to catch up with my friend
Natalie. We had not seen each other for awhile, so it was fun to spend the weekend traveling together. Salamanca is a great city - it has a lot of
history, I love the
architecture, and we ate lots of delicious
tapas :) I also met an auxiliar who was in
Mérida last year and is now teaching at an English academy in Salamanca. It was interesting to compare stories of our experiences from the same location.
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| Stained glass window overlooking the city inside the the Art Nouveau Museum |
Unfortunately, the weather was terrible for our first day in Salamanca - a wintery mix of rain & snow, wind, and very chilly temperatures. We attempted to make the most of our time anyway and braved the cold in our scarves, hats, gloves, and a map showing the suggested tourist route around the city. As the morning went on, we began popping into more and more cafes and stores trying to escape the cold for a few minutes (the wind was the worst part!). We quickly switched our agenda to seeing as many
indoor attractions as possible. This resulted in visits to the Art Nouveau Museum, Civil War Museum, a poetry reading, and the Salamanca Museum of Fine Arts, interspersed with more shopping. Although it turned out way different than we had planned, it was still a very fun and interesting day.
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| On a walking tour of Salamanca |
Weather the next day was much better, so we finished seeing the rest of the outdoor sights we had missed the day before. We started the day with a guided
walking tour around Salamanca, including the Old and New Cathedral, the University, and the Casa de las Conchas (shell house), among other things. Our tour guide was friendly and the information was interesting. The tour was in Spanish, as were the plaques in the museums the day before, so we actually practiced our
Spanish a lot over the weekend. After the tour we enjoyed a few more hours in the city before heading to the bus station.
Next entry...
Galicia! (The post would get too long if I continued it here)
But first, here's a photo from a little town I visited with 2 other Mérida auxilares earlier in the month:
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| A little plaza in Zafra, located in Southern Extremadura |
Jessa, Fanchon, and I took a day trip to
Zafra during one of our free Saturdays in January. The city is small and all of the main sights are very close together, so our "day" trip was really just a few hours. After exploring the cute city we found some great
croquetas de jamón before heading back to the bus station. One of the great things about living abroad for almost a year is that you can take short trips to nearby cities that are not well-known and that would not be part of a quick visit to Spain. Buses and trains are fairly convenient and inexpensive here. On this topic, I think my favorite lesser-known cities have been
Plasencia (in Northern Extremadura) and
Ronda (a little north of Marbella in Southern Andalusia (from my study abroad semester)). So, if you happen to be near either of these locations, I highly recommend scheduling a visit!
