Days: 5-6 (9 March 2017 – 10 March 2017)

Total distance travelled: 17,753.17 kilometres (11,026.81 miles)

Our return to Madrid, it was fleeting.

It was not long at all before that same afternoon we were again on the road, or more aptly, once again on the rails.

The journey itself was a little under a couple of hours (thanks to the fast train service) and even more fortunately the main railway station of Salamanca (for that was where we now were) was less than a kilometre from its historical centre and the Plaza Mayor.

According to the directions we had, we would be staying a little beyond this.

It’s entirely possible we would have planned a night here regardless, the city being renowned for its beauty and having sported a UNESCO World Heritage listing since 1988, but we had been passionately entreated to visit by Dani, a Spaniard we’d met in Iran, lately of Barcelona, although originally a native of this city.

Still an incredibly clear day, even laden with our packs as we were, first impressions were pretty good!

Plaza Mayor in the late afternoon sun (and shadow) and that arched facade across the way, that’s the city hall

The other thing that struck us (and surprised us) immediately was that everywhere we looked as we gazed upwards in admiration of the cities beautiful buildings, there were Storks! It was almost like we were back in Morocco…

It also felt like a young city, and by that I don’t mean based on the architecture.

Salamanca is famously a university town, in fact one of the oldest in the Western world, and the byproduct of that is the place is full of young souls, at this time making the most of the beautiful afternoon sun.

“Oh, hey there Stork…”

A few minutes walk through the cobbled streets had us at our hostel (Tormes was its name) and now, unburdened by our packs, we were quickly back out to explore before what remained of the daylight was lost.

It probably sounds like dusk was imminent from that previous statement, however the skies were cloudless and the sun bright so in truth we had a comfortable period, both in time available to us and in the temperature as well.

Oh, and it was a beautiful city to wander as well!

Catedral de Salamanca

Painted in gold by the afternoon sun

The city was bathed in a golden glow that was the afternoon sun, and revel in its warmth was did as we explored the cobbled streets that formed the centro historico and the many beautiful facades that adorned its historical buildings.

A rather unique one amongst the many being the Casa de las Conchas, decorated as it was with hundreds of sea shells (not actual shells but carvings of) although frustratingly or perhaps fittingly given that it’s us we’re talking about, there remained a significant amount of scaffolding about which somewhat tarnished the view.

As the afternoon became twilight and then night, it came time for us to find our evening meal at a rather early hour by Spanish standards, but manage we did with a little vino as well.

A beautiful afternoon (left) & ‘Suffering’ through an early dinner (right)

Yet another cool, but stunningly clear morning met us, and when I say cool I legitimately mean it.

As we wandered through the many tree filled squares, conifers, burdened with overnight frost, literally steamed before our very eyes!

Our explorations took us to the edges of the historical city, one such border being the river Tormes which surely formed a strategic natural defence in ages past.

There wasn’t really a ton to see here, although from across the river we were afforded some nice views looking back over the city.

Looking back towards the city over the Rio Tormes

We’d arrived in Salamanca with little plan, however one of the few things we had in mind was to find a frog.

Weird as that may sound, this particular frog is considered a symbol of luck in this ancient city, and the one that we sought sat somewhere upon the walls of the university.

In fairness, we had a bit more information to go on than that.

It was supposed to be hiding somewhere above one of the main entrances, camouflaged within the ornate carvings that sat above the arched entrance.

Like hunting for a needle in a haystack at Salamanca University

Had we been so inclined, we could of enlisted the aid of a guide to help us find the little fellow but where would the fun be in that!?

It was no easy task, and we may have cheated somewhat using the internet to help us narrow down our search, but eventually find it we did.

So, did we feel lucky?

So many nooks and crannies to hide, but eventually we found… the frog!

More time was killed simply wandering a little more, on occasion some random, almost haunting music would echo off the stone walls as it drifted out of one religious establishment or another.

Then it was time to travel on, and a reasonable bus journey ahead would see us through to Portugal.

Notes:

* Our Eurail 2 country passes allowing 6 days of travel within 2 months cost us $96.00AUD per person (a special travel agents rate).

* An additional €16.80 seat reservation fee was required for our total journey from Madrid to Salamanca.

* In Madrid, we needed to reach an alternate railway station upon our return from Toledo (for our journey to Salamanca). This Cercanias service cost us €1.70 each.