Portugal River Cruise May 2022: Tuesday May 3 Salamanca

After breakfast we boarded our coaches and headed for Salamanca, Spain, for the day. Its about a two hour drive through a changing environment. The first half of the journey takes us on windy roads through the “Parque Natural do Douro Internacional”, which borders both Spain and Portugal. Quite mountainous to our west. As the land flattens out we see many acres of ranch land with cows and sheep. The land is very rocky so we see no “agriculture” going on. There are very few outbuildings and, as compared to Idaho anyway, you won't see any abandoned farm equipment out in the fields. As we get closer to Salamanca we start to see fields of grain crops. We are told that later in the summer we'd see fields of sunflowers. It seems we are very early in the spring; not much growing yet. We were told about the Holm Oak, which are pruned to provide shade for the cattle in the summer. We also learned about the Black Pigs, which eat acorns and provide the ham delicacies you see in the markets.

Our most interesting wildlife sighting today was Storks! They make huge nests and we're told that they'll migrate to Africa in the fall and return here, to the same nests, in March. Once we get to the city you'll see the nests on top of some of the church buildings. I managed to get a good photo of them!

Upon our arrival in Salamanca we were met by a local guide, who spoke very good English, fired up our “quiet devices” and walked all around the city center, including “Mercado” featuring all manner of meats and cheese.” We visited both of the Cathedrals. (The two cathedrals are attached. Originally, the plan was to demolish one and use the stone to build a new one. But they decided that would take too long!) The architecture and detail of the facades is incredible. The interiors are dark and high, with stained glass windows; most of the “Chapels” are protected by steel cages. One of them is used for services every day. The main feature of the city is the University, which has 20,000 students from all over the world. We were told about the legend of the frogs and saw the statue of the priest who was imprisoned for translating the bible to Spanish.

During our trip we have heard references several times to the Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755, which destroyed Lisbon but also affected Spain and north Africa. We were directed to a crack in a cathedral wall which can still be seen.

After our tour we were set loose to find lunch on our own. The weather is cloudy and quite cool. No shortage of options! Most of the restaurants have outdoor seating, but its too cold! We went to a little cafe and enjoyed Three Cheese Pizza and “Pork on Fries”. The prices seem quite reasonable.

After lunch we explored the square some more until our meeting time to hear the traditional student music group called “la Tuna”. What a hoot! They entertained us with traditional Spanish music and dancing. See more here: La Tuna on YouTube

Returning to the coaches, we arrived back at the ship around 6:00. For some reason, they have moved the boat downriver a little ways to a place called Barca d'Alva. We enjoyed a wonderful meal of roast shank of lamb, at our table of six, including Valerie and Eddie, our tour directors from Twin Falls. Its amazing how many tours they have done around the world!