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| The Cathedral of Salamanca from a bench on the bank of the Tormes River |
If you're around my age you probably remember the Saturday morning cartoon Mr. Peabody and Sherman. Mr. Peabody had a magical time machine that could transport himself and Sherman back in time to whatever date they set. Today has been like stepping in a time machine for both of us.
A few weeks shy of forty years ago two brave adults, Steve and Pam Osthoff escorted seven students or recent graduates of Mulberry High School to Salamanca, Spain for a summer study program. Beth and I happened to be two of the seven students. We were already dating at the time. Beth had just graduated from Mulberry. I had been out of high school for a few years and was now attending the University of Florida. Beth would be attending Florida State University in the fall. It was the summer of 1979 and we were going to leave behind the comforts of Mulberry to immerse ourselves in the language and culture of Spain. We immersed ourselves in the culture, but I can't really say much for that language thing, other than we sorta tried!
Why Salamanca? Why not Madrid or Barcelona? Salamanca is not only a historical town, it is also a college town. I'm not sure what the combined enrollment of the Universities and Colleges was in 1979, but now it's around 30,000. In spite of our attempts to ruin it's reputation, the University of Salamanca is Spain's oldest and one of it's most prestigious universities. It's actually the fourth oldest continuously operating universities in the world. Additionally, Salamanca is centrally located so we were able to do several "field trips" to surrounding cities such as Toledo, Segovia and Madrid.
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| The Roman Bridge and another view of the Cathedral of Salamanca |
Leaving the US wasn't as common back in 1979. I had been on a few cruises to the Bahamas with my family and my senior class trip. Beth went to the Bahamas on her senior class trip, and she thinks she went to Canada with her family, but this was a whole new ball game. A plane ride to what seemed like the other side of the planet, people who didn't talk the same language as us and ate different foods than we were used to eating. Most of which seemed to be covered in olive o,il.
It was a great summer, and without a doubt it was also the beginning of what has turned into a lifetime love of travel and adventure for Beth and I. We greatly appreciate the Osthoff's for chaperoning the trip and are happy to know that they may now be reading this blog occasionally. Also a big shout out to any of the other 5 Mulberrians who were a part of the trip (Lori, Kathy, Keith, Lamar and Beth's sister Cindy. We need to plan a reunion over here sometime soon!
So I apologize in advance for what I'm sure will be excessive reminiscing in the next few blogs, but there are already some great stories coming back in our brains. Such as testing our bullfighting skills against live bulls, water with gas, my mom calling the US embassy, encountering an anchovy pizza for the first time, a weekend trip to Madrid and much more. I'll also try to share some of the cultural things we learned back then and now...…….if time permits!
Day 1:
The buses start running in Salamanca at 7:15 so we caught the first one from the train station to our hotel (Hopes Palacio de San Esteban). It is located in familiar territory near the cathedral and university. Our room wasn't ready but there were a couple of couches available in a corner of the lobby so we were able to get about an hour and a half of sleep. This sleep combined with the 45 minutes or so we got on the train, some caffeine and a lot of anticipation was all we needed. We were out the door and on our way to explore by 9:00.
First up, partly because it's right next door to the hotel, and also because it was still chilly outside was the convent of San Esteban. It is an incredible building and church that I'm sure we visited back in 1979. It was completed in 1610 so it's not like it popped up in the last forty years. On top of several of the buildings there are several white stork nests, complete with babies that were being tended to by their parents. Below are some pictures from outside and inside the convent:
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| Momma (or Daddy) stork guarding the nest. We also have a great view of them from our hotel room window |
When we finished our time in the cathedral we were happy that the sun had started to warm things up, so we headed out in search of our old stomping grounds. We both had memories of where we lived and nearby landmarks. Putting our heads together we soon found ourselves standing on steps across from the massive Cathedral of Salamanca. It was on these steps forty years ago that our little group, along with friends that we made, would sit for hours pretending to be studying, but mainly just talking (something people actually did back in the pre-texting days). Off to our right was the building where most of us lived! A sign on the building indicated that it was still a residence hall associated with the university. I was tempted to try to go inside, but in a temporary moment of good judgement decided that the prospect of spending a night in the Salamanca jail was greatly outweighed by thoughts of the comforts of the hotel.
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| Same steps, forty years later...…..neither of us have aged a bit! |
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| This is the where we lived. I roomed with Keith on the left side (upper window). There was an internal courtyard. Beth roomed with Lori across the courtyard from us. |
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| Still a residence hall or at least they haven't taken the sign down if it's changed |
We finished off the day wandering the narrow streets, passing through the open space of the Plaza Mayor and strolling along the banks of the Tormes River (which seems much smaller now) and enjoying the views from numerous benches along the way...……..and of course doing a lot of reminiscing!
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| Pedestrian street leading from the university/dorm area to the Plaza Mayor |
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| The Plaza Mayor-second in size only to Madrid's Plaza Mayor. They are still disassembling structures from a large event that was held in there this past weekend. |
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| There was no such thing as "selfies" in 1979! |
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| Yeah Baby! |
