Salamanca

GO to the Art Deco museum.

What I loved most about living in Salamanca was the vast difference in deomographics:
One of the most “aging” towns/cities in spain (based on demographics) & one of the biggest college towns in the country – for international and native students alike.

I loved that at any given moment I could choose to visit the local shops, cafes, coffee houses and immerse myself in the culture and then if I felt “homesick” I could head down to a Michael Jackson theme or a Submarine theme bar or visit an internet cafe to connect with people back home!

I traveled around spain for months & salamanca was truly the one city that I felt at home in. I loved all of the other places but time & time again I go back to visit salamanca.

If you want to have a típico experience, bar hop at night at the Chupitería and the Irish Rover. We had a great time. Maybe try to avoid the bars where they come out in the street, begging you to come inside. Hello!

Salamanca is one of my favoriet cities. The univeristy is so beautiful and has so much character. I love visiting this super old university town more than Oxford or Cambridge. So gorgeous! I love the cafés and the train ride. This part of Spain is so rich in history and character. Gorgeous river scenes, great food and cheap prices at the restaurants in Salamanca. Good youth hostel as well.

I stayed in Salamanca for the first month of a three-month intensive Spanish program (don Quijote). My host family consisted of a near-elderly mama and her two daughters. They fed me hearty food; I call Salamanca “the Iowa of Spain.” They (like the rest of the Salmantinos I met) were friendly, if rather reserved, and very proud of their Castillian heritage. The city architecture is wonderful, and the education in Castillian is exceptional – they really do speak the purest Castillian Spanish of any region I visited.

How Salamanca really changed my life, however, was in the optional wine tasting class I took while there. I knew nothing about wine before I went to Spain. But that class started me on Sangre de Toro and Tempranillo. Now I appreciate all sorts of wine from all over the world.

Some of the oldest churches in all of Spain
largest and most beautiful plaza in all of Spain
youthful culture
tons of shopping
great for study abroad or immersion
could spend months there
very safe
can walk everywhere in the city
people are very helpful
bring a phrasebook if you don’t know spanish
people speak the purest form of spanish in the entire world.

...I was road-trippin’ from La Coruna to Madrid. My travel partner and I didn’t have much time to explore because we were on deadline to catch a flight out of Malpensa, so unfortunately we didn’t have much time to explore.
The time we did have was filled with amazing sights. Salamanca is a university city, so it’s loaded with students, thus a youthful energy which is sometimes hard to feel in larger cities. Aside from the energy (which is not to be under estimated!) it’s obviously deeply seeded with Spanish history.
I’d love to go back someday. Who knows? I just might!

I feel like Salamanca was a missed opportunity for me. After teaching in France, I had this grand idea of moving to Salamanca for a few months as a student and bringing my Spanish up to snuff. I loved the idea of the town and, at the time, it was the European City of Culture.

Instead, I went back to the States and started temping. I really ought to’ve gone to Spain.

If you find the frog on your own, you’re supposed to get good luck…for some amount of time. Me, I just wanted to see it.^^

I go there to study spanish. It is goin to be great! :)