Post It from Camping Regio, Salamanca, Castilla y Leon, Spain. Friday 9th May, 2014

The next place on my list of things to see on this tour was the Plaza Mayor at Salamanca, which is reputed to be the most beautiful Plaza in the whole of Spain. I was aware it was a very old and highly regarded University City so it would be good to see the buildings that they still use for education and I expected the City to be awash with young people which would make a change to see.

The journey from Burgos was easy and uneventful but one thing that I noticed just outside the city and had Mirando de Ebro before Burgos were these enormous paved, fenced and locked car parks with a sign saying they were for emergency use. Also on the road I saw signs for snow, ice and snow ploughs so wondered if this main road ever became closed were the parking areas to accommodate all the traffic. If anyone knows please do let me know.

The other thing we noticed on this journey across a large plain was the land was very much agricultural with crops everywhere. We also saw many buzzards circling on the thermals and we think we saw a Black Kite. Storks, with their young, were also in abundance and the nesting poles had been placed aside the road for they nest building. We had seen many storks before, further south near Cadiz on another holiday but not with their young in the nests.

The camp site at Salamanca was chosen because of its easy access by cycle into the city. It was located in a very nice area and had a hotel accompanying it. There was free Wi-Fi, which I could only get on my laptop in the hotel reception, but we were very disappointed. The grass pitches were scruffy and unkempt, the electric supply had some issues which I think was to do with their earthing, the showers, sinks and toilets were many but not clean and the large amount of trees on the site giving shade were shedding their pollen so we it was like being in a constant snow storm all during the day. The ground became covered in a blanket of white and we did not feel we could cook or even eat outside due to the falling pollen.

We did not catch the hourly bus from the campsite but rode the 3.5 miles into Salamanca, partly on cycle paths and parked them in a cycle parking area alongside the River Tormes close to the Cathedral and we began our tour of the streets. The Cathedral was actually two; a very old one and one not quite as old, joined together and was a very impressive building, with the obligatory storks nesting up in the towers! Surrounding the Cathedral were the University buildings and they were equally as impressive, especially the Pontifica building. The old streets leading up to the Plaza Mayor had lots of shops and places to eat and as we saw through the arch into the square the size and beauty of the place was clear, then as we entered the square it was filled not with people crossing the vast expanse but a lot of portable buildings holding a book fair. What a disappointment I felt and we had to settle for admiring the Baroque structures dating from 1729-1755 by walking around the perimeter. Never the les it was still as beautiful as I anticipated but the book fair marred the occasion for me. A coffee and churros in one of the many cafes was the best we could do to just sit and let the beauty of the place sink in.

We continued our tour further up the pedestrian area to the unusual round church of St. Marcos before discovering so rather nice shops on the way back where we were able to buy some things we wanted for Bessie. Back in the Plaza Mayor we discovered a special tourist shop with a rather well made hand fan with a scene of the Plaza painted fully across its blades in the window. Sharon’s best fan, bought in a specialist fan shop in Palma de Majorca, had seen better years and was broken now and so I bought here this one so at least we had something to look at the square as it should be seen.

A lunch of a freshly carved Iberic ham baguette eaten in the shade of the trees by the Cathedral followed by a visit to the Roman bridge crossing the river finished the day for us and we decided we would leave the campsite the next day rather than endure the setting there. Perhaps another visit sometime in the future and another campsite, there was lots more to see and do in the city.

I remembered to set the camera pixel size this time so I can at least post the allowed 5 photos with this story, off to rural Portugal next.

Sorry but I forgot to place the location on the map.

Regards, Roy