Salamanca Day 2-Less machine guns and more tourists............
A morning walk along one of Salamanca's many walking and biking trails
In 1979 Spain had just recently turned the page on a dark period in the countries history. From 1939 through November, 1975 it had been under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco. While many Americans around my age may remember Franco best by the long running series of skits on Saturday Night Live about his death......no he's not dead...…...yes, he's dead......he's still dead.
To most Spaniards there was no humor to his dictatorship during which it is estimated that up to 400,000 citizens were executed or died in labor camps. He restored the monarchy just prior to his death, making King Juan Carlos I the new leader, and the slow gradual climb back to a democracy was underway. Being only four years removed from the dictatorship there was potential for unrest throughout the country. This meant that there was a very heavy presence of armed military and police everywhere. Growing up in Mulberry our police officers carried guns, but they were kept in holsters and I'm not sure if they were allowed to have bullets. We were shocked to see men on practically every street corner with machine guns. Today, like most of Western Europe, Spain is a peaceful country. It's gone through it's share of up's and down's over the years politically, financially and dealing with terrorism, but the machine guns have been put away. I guess if you want to go to a city now days where a heavy presence of machine gun toting officers are required to keep everyone safe you'll have to go to New York.
Centuries ago a "rite of passage" upon graduation from the University of Salamanca was for students (all men at the time) to write their names on the side of the building where they studied. The paint was bull's blood which was symbolic of strength and endurance. The blood was easily absorbed into the sandstone walls and the names can still be seen on buildings around the university today. This was on the side of the church indicating that these students were theology students.
Another change that we noticed was a significant increase in tourists. Back in 1970 it was just college students and locals. Today Salamanca has become a popular tourist destination. The good news is that while there are more tourists, the city is not over run with so many that it's lost it's charm. We also noticed that by the end of the day that most of the tourists were gone. They had followed their tour leaders flag right back to their bus and headed back to Madrid or other destinations. Hopefully they left behind plenty of money for the good people of Salamanca.
Here they come for the day! One of many busloads of tourists who visit Salamanca on a daily basis.
One other change is the increase in the variety of foods now available throughout the city. We enjoyed sampling a wide range of new foods back in 1979 but would have been ecstatic to have had a McDonalds for some real American "comfort food". Although it's not our choice there is now a McDonald's, Burger King and plenty of pizza places. There are also numerous ethnic restaurants throughout the city.
Speaking of pizza, back in 1979 near the end of our trip we made our way to Madrid and found a pizza place. Our mouths were watering as we went inside and looked over the menu which was all in Spanish. Not wanting to give away the fact that I couldn't read a word of anything on the menu I simply acted cool and pointed at one of the pizza's and one of the bottles of water. The pizza arrived and looked really good, until the first bite. We weren't really sure what it was but it was as salty as the Dead Sea. We quickly discovered in my moment of coolness that I had ordered an anchovy pizza! Wanting to wash the taste out of our mouths we headed straight for the water, only to discover that I had also ordered "aqua con gas" (water with gas). It tasted terrible then and to me it still tastes terrible today. It's been rebranded as "sparkling water" and sold to millennials at greatly inflated prices. As we were talking about this we got to laughing. Even with practically no comprehension of the written language I'm sure it would have been easy to decipher at least parts of the menu...……….but no, I had to be cool.
That's enough reminiscing for today. Tomorrow I'll tell you why my mom called the US Embassy to check on me.
Here's a few more pictures from today:
There are miles and miles of nice walking/biking paths around the city. This one follows the Tormes River
The Puente Felipe VI Bridge
A nicely painted door along the trail
Finishing our walk by crossing the Roman Bridge back into the city
A close up of the Roman Bridge. It is actually two bridges that join together. The "old bridge" that is pictured here was originally constructed during the Roman times. The actual dates of the original construction are unknown but there are records dating back as far as 27 B.C. indicating there was a bridge. Obviously little if any of the original structure remain but it has certainly withstood the test of time. The bridge was used by automobiles until 1973.
Bocadillos are the staple food of Salamanca. It is a baguette sliced lengthwise. The fillings vary, but the typical one has ham and cheese. We tend to be the type of people who look for "local and cheap". The bocadillos are very tasty and fit the bill. Yesterday for lunch we opted to go a little more high tone. On the upper right is pork loin and mashed sweet potatoes. On the bottom is suckling pig and scalloped potatoes. Both were excellent. It's not easy being a pig around Salamanca!
An afternoon treat of fresh, piping hot churros and chocolate.
Churros + Chocolate=Happiness
As sunset approaches the Plaza Mayor really begins to come to life. Sunset right now is 9:45. The locals don't typically eat their evening meal until around 10:00. We tried really hard and we almost stayed out until their dinner time!
