Los Gallos en Salamanca

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, nothing too exciting has been going on. But this past weekend my parents came to visit, yay! They were here from Thursday-Monday and it was really fun. Thursday afternoon we just wandered around Salamanca a bit and ate ice cream of course (because that's what you do in Salamanca). Friday was spent doing all the normal touristy things there are to do in Salamanca. We visited the historic center of the University of Salamanca, the Cathedral, the Cave of Salamanca (thought to be the site of devil worshipping at one point), and the Roman bridge. My senora, Marisol, also invited us all over for lunch and afterwards we went to a bar for tapas and a drink.Me and Marisol

Me and dad at the Bridge
Me and Mom at the University

Saturday we planned to go to Alberca, a small pueblo about an hour outside of Salamanca. Marisol had told us that Alberca was very touristy and that we should check out Candelario as well if we got a chance. She has a country house in Candelario and she told us she would meet us for coffee if we came by. Alberca was cool, but VERY touristy. Every store was a tourist shop, so we decided to visit Candelario. Unfotunately the road between Alberca and Candelario is hairpin turns on a steep mountain for an hour and a half, needless to say we weren't feeling so great by the time we got there. Marisol met us for coffee and she and her boyfriend, Jose Angel, were our guides for the afternoon. We got to see a house from the 1700s that Jose Angel had bought and was working on gutting the inside and remodeling to as a rental house. Later we got to see their country house and even got to have a drink in the Plaza Mayor (note: the town only has 100 inhabitants, they were all at the one bar in the "Plaza Mayor"). It was definitely the most fun and interesting day of the trip.

In the Plaza Mayor in Alberca

Mom with the town pig in Alberca

Food in Alberca (this picture is just for Joe)

Sunday we visited Toledo on the way back to Madrid. Toledo is a historic city and it was cool to see the big cathedral, the castle, and all the old buildings, but again it was very commercialized and touristy. After Toledo we made it back to Madrid (only after fighting Rodrigo, our not recently updated GPS) to our hotel. The hotel was unfortunately in the middle of nowhere, so we weren't able to walk up to the Plaza Mayor or anything like that, but we were exhausted anyway so it was probably for the best. Instead we all passed out in our family bed (just 2 twin beds pushed together...interesting.)

It was a really fun weekend, and this weekend I'm off to Galicia, updates to come.