Salamanca revisited

As we’d enjoyed Salamanca so much the day before, we decided that, on Saturday we’d cycle into town, along what was billed as a cycle path beside the river Tormes all the way into the city. It did indeed go all the way although some of the early bits were unmade, and in places quite narrow. However, it was a very pleasant 5 miles or so, and in just over 45 minutes we had locked our bikes up, and headed off to see yet more sights. First on the list was the motor museum – unfortunately we only arrived at 1.25 and it closed at 2 but they did stamp our tickets so we could go back when it opened again at 5. This museum is amazing, with over 200 vehicles all beautifully maintained, from the first motorised vehicles to the latest Formula 1 racing cars. We whizzed round the first bit, covering from the 15th century (a wind powered vehicle apparently) up to the early 1950’s and then back into the old town to go to lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’d found an Italian restaurant that got good reviews on Trip Advisor so we headed for that, about half a mile away. Salamanca was significantly busier than on Friday, with lots of restaurants and bars doing brisk business. Apparently there are 4 universities in Salamanca and it seemed many of the students were out and about meeting up with their friends. Add to that the Japanese tourists, and indeed others like us, and it was pretty hectic. Unfortunately our lunch plans were scuppered as they were fully booked, so we wandered back the way we had come and settled on a small cafe for a quick lunch with wine of course!

We then visited the convent, Convento San Esteban which was a real find – beautiful buildings and an unexpected church with a fantastic altar the likes of which I don’t think I’ve ever seen before.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spent a happy and very peaceful hour there, and then returned to finish off the motor museum, even finding some cars that we’d actually owned, including Karol’s old Merc, and some we would have dearly have liked to own including General Franco’s Cadillac.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then cycled back to the site whilst it was still light. This morning we thought we’d go to a local National Park that Trip Advisor told us was great for walking, and was only 5.4 km in the car. However it was badly wrong, as it turned out the place was some 2 hours away. We gave up on that and consoled ourselves by popping into a large supermarket for coffee and Danish pastries, followed by an hour long walk by the river (including a quick picnic), and then back to the caravan to get ready for our departure tomorrow.