Salamanca, The Soul of Spain
(Please watch the 1 min Spain Travel Video PostCard at the end of the post)
Salamanca sits at the edge of a greening plane, dominated by a skyline of domed cathedrals and dun-colored walls, embracing the town in a timeless medieval clinch.
The Spaniards call Salamanca “the soul of the Spanish nation," because it's the birthplace of Castilian, the Spanish language.
Walk Salamanca's streets. It’s the only way to experience the layers of Roman, Visigothic, Islamic cultures that shaped the city for centuries.
The “starting point” has to be the sprawling University, a 13th century masterpiece that still gives off a powerful sense of history and learning.
Today, beautiful students stride with youthful confidence, chatting on smart phones as they pass beneath imposing arches where some of the world's greatest scholars walked and taught.
Look into the perfectly preserved classroom of Friar Luis de Leon. The hapless but gutsy priest infuriated the Spanish Inquisition by translating forbidden books, and was arrested in his classroom.
Tortured and imprisoned for five years by the Inquisition, he was eventually released, and when he was he walked back into his classroom, he resumed teaching with the words all of Salamanca will never forget: “Como decimos ayer.” As we were saying yesterday.
Throughout the narrow,twisting streets of this walled city, plazas and parks peek out from towering church buttresses. They're magically tucked away in the shadow of a cathedral or defunct convent, centers of conversation and laughter.
Stop at a cafe for a taste of Salamanca’s salty, tangy cheeses, exceptional local sausages and smoked meats with a glass of the local, inexpensive red wine from Rioja.
You'll always hear the strains of a sad, solitary violin from a musician somewhere in the maze, echoing off the cloistered homes and curving walls.
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