So yesterday I did a bit of exploring with a trip to Ávila and Salamanca! I learnt so much and don’t want to forget anything so I’m going to try and remember everything and write it down here.

Our first stop was in Ávila. There’s a huge wall surrounding the city which was built doing the reconquest (when the Catholic Monarchs were trying to take back Spain from the Moors). Ávila is one of the only Spanish towns (along with Salamanca) which still has Roman remains and ruins; these can be found within the wall.

At first it was a prosperous town but eventually began to run out of money, leaving parts of its cathedral unfinished, until fairly recently. It’s said that the builders ‘hicieron una chapuza’, a botch job, but it still looks beautiful and super imposing as the original parts are of gothic architecture. It seems so obvious now, but our tour guide pointed out that the church styles depended on the relationship the people had with God. For example, churches and cathedrals of this era are huge, imposing, somewhat dramatic buildings, with gargoyles and lions guarding the entrance as God was seen as a being a punisher. The splendour and striking character of the building would put the fear of God in people (literally) so they would not defy the word of priests and would obey God.

Anyways, we walked along the cobbled, narrow streets and walked along the wall too. Driving out it was incredible to see the town enclosed around the protective wall.

// Ayer, fui a Ávila y Salamanca. Aprendí mucho y no quiero olvidar nada entonces voy a escribir todo aquí. 

Nuestra primera parada fue Ávila. Hay una muralla grandísima alrededor de la ciudad que fue construida durante la reconquista. Ávila es uno de solo dos pueblos (Salamanca) que todavía tiene los restos romanos; estos pueden ser encontrados en la muralla.

Al principio fue un pueblo rico pero desgraciadamente se acabó con dinero entonces partes de la catedral no fueron terminadas. Eventualmente, la catedral fue terminada, pero los constructors hicieron una chapuza. Parece obvio ahora, pero la arquitectura de los edificios religiosos depende de la relación que tiene la población con Dios. Por ejemplo, iglesias y catedrales de esta etapa son enorme, impresionante y tiene objetos como leones y gárgolas. Esto es debido a que Dios fue un castigador a los no le obedecieron. El esplendor y características desconcertante significa que las personas no desafiaron a los curas y entonces Dios.

De todos formas, andamos alrededor del pueblo. En las calles empedradas y angosta y encima de la muralla también. Al partir, fue increíble ver el pueblo cercado de la muralla.

Our next stop was Salamanca. I was excited about this as I had originally thought about going to the Uni here this year. It’s absolutely beautiful! I had never seen buildings with facades so detailed.

Salamanca was the first Uni in Spain to teach things other than theology and religion. Originally, students were taught in cathedrals, (hence why university professors are sometimes called ‘catedráticos‘), so religion and theology were the only things that could be taught. As the cathedral was where Uni took place, and this was the only city where you could do something other than theology, many students flocked here for university. That’s why Salamanca has 2 cathedrals instead of just one; to accommodate the influx.

For those boys whose family could not afford to send them to university, they used to sing and dance in the street to try and make money to go to Uni. After a performance, they’d pass around their cap, (un gorro), to collect money. They were known as ‘gorrones’ and this has now become the word for ‘party crasher’: just as you were not invited to the party, these boys did not belong in the university elite.

In one of the facades of the uni building/cathedral there’s a frog on top of a skull. It’s said that if you can find the frog in the facade, you will pass all your exams. (Bad omen that I couldn’t spot it then).
Also, the frog and the skull were originally meant to act as a warning to the university students. Obviously in those days, only boys attended university. With such a huge amount of boys in one area, there was an influx of prostitutes to Salamanca. The frog is meant to represent sexual desire and the skull representes death. As you can imagine, many boys back then got syphilis and died. I think it’s really weird that in almost all the souvenir shops you can buy loads of frog merchandise when it’s meant to represent an STD.

ANYWAYS, once again, in our free time we walked around taking in everything. Salamanca really reminds me of Madrid. The main Plaza is very similar.

// Nuestra próxima parada fue Salamanca. Estuve muy enthusiada sobre esto porque quería asistir la universidad allí este año. La ciudad es bonitaaa! No he visto nunca fachadas tan detalladas.

Salamanca fue la primera universidad en España enseñar asignaturas más que religión. Por eso, mucha gente vino y este aumento en estudiantes es la razón porque Salamanca tiene 2 catedrales en vez de uno; para acomodar los estudiantes porque en aquellos días la enseñanza tuvo lugar en los catedrales.

En una de las fachadas hay un cráneo y una rana. Las personas dicen que si se puede encontrar la rana, se aprobará todo sus exámenes.
Además, el cráneo y la rana fue un advertencia a los chicos de la universidad. En aquellos días, solo chicos pudieron asistir la universidad. Debido a que fue un gran cantidad de chicos en un lugar, las prostitutas vinieron también. La rana representa el deseo sexual y el cráneo representa el muerte, porque muchos chicos contrajeron sífilis y murieron. En mi opinion, es raro que la tiendas venden cosas con ranas cuando se representa un ETS.

DE TODAS FORMAS, Salamanca tiene un plaza major muy similar a Madrid. 

After leaving Salamanca, we stopped back to Ávila to see the wall lit up at night. It was a beautiful sight and honestly the photo doesn’t do it any kind of justice.

This weekend was everything I needed in a weekend after such a shit week. It’s almost reinvigorated me to just dive head first into everything, keep exploring, keep myself busy. Keep enjoying myself.

// Al partir de Salamanca, visitamos otra vez Ávila para ver la muralla con la luces. Fue una vista bonita y la foto no muestra todo.

Este fin de fue todo que yo necesite después de una semana mierda. Me da la motivación de sigo explorando, sigo siendo ocupada y sigo pasándolo bien.