SESSION 19: A VIDEO

SESSION 19: A VIDEO

48 HOURS IN SALAMANCA

TRANSCRIPT:

Sure, I adore the beaches and the mountains of Spain, but I have to admit I’m smitten by Spanish cities, which strike me as the most civilized concentrations of humanity in Europe. And if you twisted my arm about my favourites, well, see doubted, Salamanca has to be among the most alluring. The city’s xxxx that students know, perhaps it is time you find out before the rest of the world gets here.

Salamanca is half way to everywhere, but a brilliant destination in its own right. It’s astride an ancient super highway, the "Ruta de la Plata", which is one of the many things the Romans did for Spain. It took the silver that was mined about 200 miles north from here, in Asturias, down to the gorgeous city of Seville, 300 miles south, which is where the metal was traded and crafted. Oh, and the capital, Madrid, is just over 100 miles east.

Worried about the plummeting pound? You don’t have to be, thanks to this new generation of classy 3 and 4 star hotels that make you feel as though you’re in a kind of high-tech home from home, but without the high intensity bill at the end of it.

Uhm, this place is really Salamanca "centro". To prove it to yourself you can always log-on to the free wi-fi and check out your location on Planet Earth. Alternatively, just look out of the window.

There’s only one place to begin your exploration and that’s the "Plaza", that’s at the heart of everything, one of Spain’s most atmospheric central squares, perfectly proportioned and wonderfully decorated. The Plaza Mayor itself deserves much more than just a quick spin, the arcades that give it so much character are works of art in their own right, and each of the columns is decorated with a notable celebrity. This is the Duke of Wellington. Now, luckily, I’ve got my walking boots on. Time to go off on a tangent.

The Torre del Clavero, all that remains of a 15th century castle. But if you’re thinking "oh, I’ll add a vertical dimension to my hike", there’s no view!

When you’re walking around Salamanca you soon discover it’s a very spiritual place. Praise be to the makers of San Esteban, which is the finest example of Plateresque architecture. This is were the masons worked the stone with all the meticulous detail of silversmiths. And, did you know? San Esteban, Saint Stephen, is the patron saint of stone masons.

I’ve got to show you this, it’s my favourite building, I think, the local library. No, not this one, that one. You just get the best view from here. It’s the Casa de las Conchas, 400 of them. If you want to learn a bit of Spanish, you won’t be surprised to know that "concha" means "shell".

Architectural appetite sated, it’s time to be drawn back into the heart of things for a spot of lunch. The best kind of lunch on the run is lunch in the sun, and the Plaza Mayor has not a few of them, a dozen cafés and restaurants plus two ice-cream parlours and a sweet shop.

What’s astonishing is I spent all day so far within a tiny area, yet, I found a wealth of fascination. You should never come to Salamanca’s beautiful central market unless you’ve got a full stomach because everything is so fresh, so beautiful, so tempting, smells so delicious -"buenos dias"- that you want to buy the lot.

This is my favourite shop in all Salamanca. It’s called Mercatus and it’s the university shop -"buenos dias"- full of everything you need, beautiful quill pens, lovely satchels, globes, notebooks and there’s even a map of the student’s brain. I can see a bit marked "drink".

Studying in Salamanca must be incredibly tough judging by how hard the students play and there’s 36.000 of them. Don’t worry if you don’t match exactly the typical profile of a young undergraduate, you’ll be made to fill welcome anyway, and perhaps you can practise the local lingo. Salamanca is, after all, a global centre for learning Spanish and, if you want to practise, for example "dos cervezas, por favor" -dos cervezas, por favor- Ok, you’ll be able to do that here. I’m getting on to the next bit now, which is: "my friend is paying".

Look at the time, 11 o’clock, which means that applying the normal rule that everything in Spain happens about 3 hours after the rest of Europe, means it’s just time for dinner. Where better to splash out than the fantastic Casa Paca? which is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year, serving very good food with a sense of style. This is a steak the size of Salamanca sizzling on volcanic stones. Mmm...

Morning! The Salamancan attitude to cathedrals is a bit like -"buenos dias"- my attitude to morning coffee: why stop at just one. So the city has two beautiful cathedrals grafted elegantly together. This is the "nueva catedral", the new cathedral, a mere 4 centuries old. The highlight of the new cathedral is this amazing dome. Then, when you come into the old cathedral you peel back another 5 centuries. The crowning glory of the cathedral is this magnificent 15th century altarpiece, the work of the Italian painter Nicholas Florentino, depicting in 53 panels the life of the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ.

And, back outside again, local guide Isabel Cabaco pointed out that the ancient façade has some surprisingly modern retouches. This side was restored in the year 1993 and the stone mason wanted to sign his job in the same way as the stone mason in the 16th century. And it’s possible to see a lot of animals: a rabbit, a stork, a crab and a bull, the famous animal from the countryside of Salamanca. And look now the monkey eating an ice-cream. And, ladies and gentlemen, an astronaut!

Salamanca had an entire year in the artistic sun in 2002, when it was chosen as European capital of culture. One reason it won that accolade is right here, the university, the oldest in Spain, as celebrated as Oxford and Cambridge, with the added about it of being 1000 miles nearer the equator.

Brunch isn’t really a Spanish concept, but that doesn’t matter because any café that’s open on Sunday morning will fix you up with "tostada", toasted baguette, a “café con leche”, of course, and a freshly squeezed orange juice, so you can taste the sunshine.

At last, a Salamanca building that’s relatively modern, or at least "modernista", the style in which the Casa Lis was built in 1905. It was very controversial at the time, built on the old city walls. But now it is a magnificent museum of "art nouveau" and "art deco". Absolutely dazzling, especially its stained-glass dome.

They call Salamanca "the golden city" and there’s a passion and intensity about the place that I think sums up for me everything I love about this nation. Could Salamanca be the heart and soul of Spain? Come here and experience it for yourself.

Look, I’m really sorry if you are a vegetarian, but this is the absolute pinnacle of the pig: "jamón -ha, ha, ha- iberico".