River of Gold Viking River Cruise
Day 8: Friday, November 15, 2024 - Salamanca, Spain
The day's statistics:
- Weather: low 60s
- Steps: 10,362 Linda; 11,200 Steve
- Miles traveled (approximately): 160
We awoke at our normal time, had our breakfast, and at 8:15, headed out for our all-day excursion: A Day in Salamanca.
One complication of this day is going to be the time zones. Portugal is in the Western European time zone, while Spain is
in the Central European time zone. So we start - and end - the day in one time zone, but excursion is in another.
Not far from the ship, the bus driver had to pull over to the side of the road, and called the Spanish
authorities to let them know that we were entering their country. It was essentially a formality.
After receiving approval to enter the country, we continued on and entered Spain - our fourth country of the trip, and the
18th of all the countries we have visited.
In the middle of the above (putting this here rather than breaking up the above), in a small town, we stopped for a
convenience break. This also included glasses of oranges juice, cups of coffee (two things to necessitate future
convenience breaks), and a light "angel bread" wafer.
We boarded again, and continued on.
The bus dropped us off in town, and we began our walk - heading to an indoor market.
We walked along the side of the market, before going inside, passing a sculpture of a woman cutting cheese, and
the archway across the street.
We entered the market to find vendors selling fresh seafood, meats, cheeses, fruits and vegetables, and other items.
Our group was treated to a collection of appetizers with wine.
After our snack, we continued a tour inside the market.
There was a vendor on one of the corners (that used a pink light for some reason) that sold pretty much every - and by "every", I
mean every - part of the cow. Ground meat, sure. But also tongue, brain, other internal organs, ears, genitalia, and
even faces. Faces. Faces...
This vendor sold Bellota dried meat, which indicates it the pig has a special diet. Each (not per pound) one, from right to left
(ignoring the cents), they are €169, €189, €289, €299, and €399. They weigh eight to nine kilograms each,
so they are about €19.88 per kilo, or $9.04 per pound (for, you know, the "cheap stuff"), up to $21.33 per pound for the good stuff.
We exited the market, and continued our walking tour to Plaza Mayor.
There was a used book sale market going on in the plaza (not pictured).
We were told that we had until 2:00 before we were to meet at the Cathedral Nueva - though we wouldn't be going inside.
We decided to walk there ourselves for a self-guided tour. On the way, we ran into a couple other coupless and we all headed
to the church.
We stopped at the ticket office and we were told we had to go around the corner.
We went around the corner and a sign indicated Students Only. Hmm.
Was it across the street? We went over there and the guard to us around the corner. Hmm.
I went inside and found the guard again, but took out our map and showed him where we wanted to go. He pointed
a bit further down the street. So yes, around the corner. But then two more blocks further down.
We eventually arrived at the cathedral. We entered and I said "Estamos con Viking. Seis por favor." I was
close enough to "We are with Viking. Six please." that the six of us were allowed in. That was the last we
were together in the church, and until we gathered for the 2:00 walk.
The cathedral was, shall was say, rather large. There were quite a few apses with chapels, and other artifacts to see.
The cathedral was spectacular. And huge.
We exited the catherdal out the back, and entered the "old church".
We exited out the back of the cathedral and at the end of the block straight ahead was the
Museo Art Nouveau Y Art Déco (Museum of Art Mauveau and Art
Déco).
We may or may not have seen a sign that said that photography was or wasn't permitted, so the camera may or may
not have taken pictures that are or aren't in focus, and or framed and or exposed properly or well...
On display were porcelain pieces, glassware, artwork, and dolls - including a set of connected rooms dedicated to dolls.
We weren't in the museum too long - it wasn't that big, afterall.
By about 1:30 we were at the gathering place in front of the cathedral. But we still had a bit of time so
we sat and talked to some of our fellow travelers that were also waiting to start the 2:00 tour.
As Rui had told us about the "hidden frog" on the university building, I thought I'd take some time to try to find it.
First, though, I had to figure out where the university building even was. Using the Google® machine, I discovered that the
university was on the other side of the plaza. So I walked over and started walking around looking at the architeccture.
I was unsuccessful in finding the frog. But it turns out that part of that - OK, all of it - was
because the university building I was looking at was the wrong university building...
Anyway, I returned to the bench and continued to chat with the others until 2:00 rolled around.
We had a local guide that took us around.
We began with returning to the cathedral and inspecting the entryway (this is the same image from above).
Here are close-up segments of the left and right sides.
And here are two closer-ups of two of the figures.
Notice that the one on the left is a dragon holding and ice cream cone, and the right is an astronaut.
Our route took us along the side of the cathedral, then we turned right, and then right again and found ourselves
on the other side of the [other] univeristy building.
Here is the facade of the university building, with a couple close-ups of interesting sections.
It turns out that this university facade is the one that had the hidden frog on it, not the other one that
I was looking at a little earlier. Somewhere.
Our guide pointed it out for us, though he didn't give us much time to look for it. Not that we probably would have found
it...
Looking at the full facade again...
The frog is on top of the inner-most skull on the lowest level on the pillar on the right. Here.
This plaque, commemorating the 800 year anniversary of the city, was already six years old.
We continued on to the courtyard.
While this "vandalism" was also on the side of the cathedral, it was a little easier to see here.
It shows "VICTOR", and includes the student's name and date of graduation.
These tags have been being done for centuries - CENTURIES - as this sample shows, dated from 1667. And it is still there.
Continuing on, heading toward the PLaza Mayor.
We found another pilgrimage marker - [probably] the 5th photographed.
And further on.
By 2:55, as requested, we were back at the Plaza Mayor, and were handed off from our guide back to Rui.
We walked back to the bus, and then headed the three or so hours back to the ship which was now docked in Pocinho.
We typically have our port talk in the lounge before dinner. This day, we were given the next-day details en route
back to the ship because the window between arrival and dinner was too small to rely on being able to have a formal
talk in the lounge.
We were also given a joke. A teacher asks her class if computers are male or female. The boys said that computers are
female because only the creator understands their internal logic, they have their own special communication, the
smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory, and a commitment to one means that you will spend half your pay
check on accessories. The girls said that computers are male because they are easy to turn on, they need a lot of data
to make a decision, they are supposed to help solve problems, and if you don't have to wait long for a better model.
Not long after returning, it was time for dinner.
Here is what the table layout typically looked like.
We sat with Judy and Gary.
Linda had the red lentil & coconut milk soup, seared king dorado & seafood fregola sarda, and lemon meringue tart.
I had the grilled octopus, seared king dorado & seafood fregola sarda, and pastel de tentúgal.
After chatting a while, we returned to our room, relaxed a bit, washed up, and went to sleep.