Thru Galicia to Portugal: Part 3-Salamanca

We bid adios to Portugal, happy to be returning to home base in Bilbao but excited to be able to visit another special city in Spain on the drive back. We had to choose between: Avila? Zamora? Salamanca? Valladolid? Segovia? A hard choice! What would you choose?
We decided on Salamanca.
But on the way to Salamanca, we felt the need to stretch our legs and the walled city of Ciudad Rodrigo presented an opportunity to get in touch with our inner Napoleonic soldier-in 1810 the city fell to the French after a 24-day siege, only to be recaptured by Wellington in 1812. The walls are intact so they must have been repaired after the war. There are great views of the county side, but you mostly have to keep your eyes on the ground to avoid the dog poop. Nice looking cathedral built between 12th-14th centuries, but closed, as are most things, between 1:30 and 4:30.

Salamanca was a glorious city, the old ochre stone glistening in the failing light and lightly falling rain. Truly magnificent buildings throughout the old quarter. We didn't have nearly enough time to see everything we wanted and had to make do with seeing just the University, the plaza and a very special convent.
The University was founded in 1134, making the oldest university in Spain and the the 3rd oldest operating university in Europe. Famous students include Miguel de Cervantes, Miguel de Unamuno, St John of the Cross, Fray Luis de León, Calderón de la Barca. It has widely recognized Spanish language programs, and sometimes I dream about going to school there. I felt smarter just walking through the lecture halls and corridors. The old library is spectacularly crammed with parchments and rare manuscripts.
Note: While Fray Luis de León was teaching at Salamanca, he was imprisoned by the Inquisition. After 4 years of torture, hardship and solitary confinement, he was released and returned to the university. According to legend, upon his return to teaching, he began his first class with the words "as we were saying yesterday..."

the library

May be the oldest book in the world

I think we might have left the best spot for last though. The Convent of St Claire was founded in the beginning of the 13th century as a royal convent. As such, it was richly endowed and finely decorated. When it was remodeled in the mid 16th century, the builders made a conscious decision not to destroy the original art that covered the church's ceiling. Instead, a false vaulted ceiling was built. The original murals were covered with plaster which was thought to be more sanitary. So, both the walls and ceiling were protected and not re-discovered again until 1976. They are marvelous! Unfortunately, no photographs were allowed, but if you are interested, you can see some of them at this web site.

5. Salamanca. Iglesias, Conventos y Palacios from Emilio Fernández Cordobés

The church was lovely, but paled in comparison with the artwork under the false ceiling.

We were the only visitors that morning and had the luxury of a private guided tour by a wonderful guide who had very understandable Spanish. As we left, we met the only non-cloistered member of the convent, a twinkle-eyed, older nun who I could relate to on an eye-to-eye basis. There was some indescribable quality to her character that Tom and I talked about long after we left the convent.

The beginning of Semana Santa in Bilbao

Some notes on Semana Santa (Holy Week): In the Catholic tradition (maybe other religions as well), Holy Week is the week between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. The week focuses on remembering and honoring Jesus Christ's final early activities, including his last supper with his apostles, his arrest, death, resurrection and appearance before his friends and apostles. Arguably the most important week in the Catholic liturgical calendar, since it celebrates Christ's redemption of mankind through his death as well as recognizing his divine nature, while Christmas holds the promise of redemption. Anyway, this is how I see it and should be considered official catechism.

On Friday, Beverly, Phyl and I roamed around the Casco Viejo (Old Town), enjoying a menu del día before seeing the Museo de Semana Santa (Holy Week Museum).

cream of vegetable with ham

creamy rice with fish and shrimp

At first, the museum director wanted to turn us away, because he said they were so busy getting ready for the processions that were starting that evening, he couldn't give us a tour. I whined a little bit, batted my eyelashes some, and, smiling, he changed his mind.

We were so happy he did! He explained how each parish in the city has a fraternal organization that organizes the processions or marches which occur daily or sometimes twice daily, during Semana Santa as well as during specific holy days during the year. The oldest fraternity was founded in the 1590's although the other 8 are relative newcomers, founded since 1900. They have their own distinct costumes...

small costumed figures in the museum

and 2 different types of 'floats'; the 'anda' which has 1 figure atop a palanquin or litter, and the 'paso' which has a number of figures arranged in a tableau on top of a litter. All the andas and pasos are stored in the museum so we saw all of them, some in the process of being decorated with flowers.

Originally, the fraternities were exclusively male, but women now play a large part in them. We learned that the parish of San Vicente Martír was hosting the first Holy Week procession that very night as well as a very special procession on Sunday afternoon. The church is right around the corner from the piso. Our local church! Qué suerte!  I knew that Semana Santa in various parts of Spain was considered spectacular and not-to-be-missed, but I hadn't been able to find any information regarding Semana Santa in Bilbao; some people said it was large and elaborate, some said there was hardly any activity at all.

At dusk, we started to heard drums and horns from the street in front of our piso, indicating that the fraternities were marching from their home parishes toward San Vicente. The streets, the plaza in front of the church and the park were full of others hoping to see the procession, so I can't really explain how I found myself in an enviable spot, directly in front of the church's doors and the andas. Usually, I'm craning my neck around some 6 foot 6 inch rotund parade watcher, but not this time.

I still wasn't sure what to expect, but certainly it wasn't the dramatic, mysterious and colorful ritual we found outside the church. Each fraternity marched past my position...well actually, they were marching past the images of Jesus and Mary and I just happened to be there...very solemnly and with great dignity to the beating of drums clapping of wooden blocks and blare of many different types of horns.

Each fraternity had 50-75 costumed figures, so the sheer number was impressive. I found the costumes to be somewhat sinister, but Beverly thought they were more mysterious than sinister. Certainly these costumes pre-date the Klu Kluk Klan in the US. The cone-shaped hats didn't seem to be very comfortable; lots of marchers pulled, tugged or otherwise adjusted them as they marched. But they were very dramatic, great costume designers! Some of the fraternities wore matching shoes: buckled black slip on's, brown sandals, and the occasional penitent in bare feet. Ouch.   

It took about an hour for 8 fraternities to process past the andas. Then it was time for the San Vicente fraternity, Cofrádia de la Pasión, to take the andas out of the church's doorway and carry them along the parade route.

When the final anda passed my station, I had the option to join the crowds and follow them on the procession route, which would end back at the church of San Vicente, but I opted to return to the piso. We could hear the drums and horns as the procession wound around 4 or 6 blocks and then again as each fraternity returned to their home parish. All was quiet by 10:30 or so.

Through Galicia to Portugal: Part 2-Portugal

The highways through Spain and Portugal were great. The biggest problem was that each highway seems to have 3 or 4 names or numbers which can be very confusing. It helps if the navigator and driver are separate individuals and the navi-guesser has the Google maps iPhone app. Worth every euro of roaming charges! There was 1 road where the toll was 25 euros, gulp. Good thing that both countries use the same currency.
We passed through miles of orchards of some mysterious espaliered small tree with glistening smooth bark and contorted limbs that was (and still is!) unknown to me. Didn't seem to be a filbert or a chestnut and wasn't any other common fruit or nut. Drat-no pictures.
Portugal was different almost immediately. We passed some beautiful beaches and took a road break. The water wasn't frigid; Tom said he would have gone swimming except for...[insert pertinent excuse]

 We had an excellent lunch which was about half the price of a comparable lunch in Spain. Difference #1: Portugal is less expensive than Spain. We drove on to Braga, where we spent the night and then on to Oporto. Here's a map of Portugal:
http://www.golisbon.com/maps/portugal-map.html
Braga was mildly interesting. There's a cathedral which is more austere than most Spanish cathedrals, and a recently discovered Roman bath that is still under excavation. The explanation of how the Romans used the baths was interesting. There were wood burning furnaces under the ceramic floors and hot air circulated through underground chambers.

We soon noted other differences between Spain and Portugal: Difference #2: Rather than stucco or wood, the houses are covered in beautiful ceramic tiles!

We also noticed that in northern Portugal, there were more single family homes, with large gardens, rather than the high rise apartments we usually see in Spain. We were also able to eat a full dinner as early as 7:30 p.m. AMAZING. Differences #3 and #4.
I thought the city of Oporto was fun, probably because we happened upon a wine and port tasting room/restaurant where we spent a couple of enjoyable hours eating and drinking with kind and knowledgeable people. Who knew there were so many types of port to try? Not to mention the white and red wines from the Douro River Valley. The city covers some steep hills, reminding me of San Francisco and there were definitely some dodgy areas similar to the Tenderloin. The cathedral was a big heap of grey stone with an interior that looked like an art history text book illustrating different architectural styles. This wall gothic, that asp renaissance, some baroque over there, etc.

We didn't spend the night in Oporto, though. We drove through the twilight into the Douro Valley to a winery/hotel Tom found. Even in the dark, we could sense the elegance of the hotel. Maybe a little too elegant for the likes of us! They make wines and port, although the process is very different from the California wine making processes. They still smash some of the grapes by foot-I job that I feel uniquely qualified for.

We really enjoyed the countryside around the hotel. The river is magnificent. Wide, clean and, of course, at this time of year flowing swiftly. It's one the largest rivers in the Iberian peninsula, flowing 897 kilometers from Soria Spain to Oporto, Portugal.


.Near  full of small vineyards alternating with olives, almonds and citrus. I think it must be spectacular during the summer and fall. What do you think?

The orchards around the hotel were particularly nice. We had fresh orange juice every morning and I ate a few almonds that were left on the trees.

This post seems to go on and on. We were only in Portugal 5 days, Ellen. Next stop, Salamanca.