iHasta Luego Valencia! iHola Salamanca!

I am now in Salamanca. I left Valencia on Saturday. Although Valencia was very different from Granada, and it took me a few weeks to get to like it, in the end, I am going to miss it. With the exception of two strange guys that live in my apt each for a few weeks, I am going to miss my roommates. I had great luck with my roommates in Valencia and had a great flat. I am also going to miss literally living around the corner from the grocery store. It made having to plan what I was going to have for meals completely unnecessary. I am, of course, going to miss being able to go to the beach, although it was starting to get kind of hot and humid, so I think I left just in time. Most of all, I am going to miss being able to job or walk along the “river”. The “river” is now actually a park. It was a river that ran through the city until the late 1950s. Then there was a large flood that damaged a lot of the city and city officials decided to divert the river around the city. The river was then filled in somewhat and made into a park. It was really pretty and had lots of trees, fountains and flowers and was nice to jog or walk in. But hey, you can’t live in the past so on to Salamanca.

Salamanca is east and a very wee bit north of Madrid. The city is only a little over 100,000 people but has one of the most well-known universities in Spain. I don’t think that this population number includes students. The city is very beautiful and definitely is the most beautiful city I have been in so far. It is one of the older cities in Spain and although it has a modern area, the majority of important businesses and practically all government buildings are in the older part. I am living on “Gran Via”, which in Spanish cities is the “Main Street”. Although this is the “Main Street” it still seems like a very peaceful area to live in.

As I mentioned before, Salamanca boasts one fo the biggest universities in Spain. Like the city, the university is separated in two parts, the old and new, as well as the public and private. One of the old buildings (like all of the old university buildings, it seems) has an ornate façade that is around the doors of the building. One of the pillars of that is around the door has a skull with a frog on the head sculpted into it. Several of my teachers had told me that I had to find this specific skull among the other carvings and that if I was able to find it then I would have good luck in my studies. I found it - on my own. In addition to one of good luck in life and specifically, since I am a student right now, good luck in my studies, one of my tour guide books also says that some people believe that those who find it can also be “assured of good luck and even marriage within a year.” So, we’ll see what Salamanca has in store for me. ;)