Hello everyone, this blog is proudly brought to you from a train. But this time it's a French train. Which is a shockingly different experience. I'm also going backwards. Which is a strange sensation. *wheeee* Look ma, no hands! Sorry. I'm excited. I'm in France! I'm doing an adventure! I'm gonna see things and meet people and probably order food without knowing what it is! And I am most definitely going to mess up the French language. BUT I am going to have a reserved place on trains while I'm in France, and that is a big weight off my shoulders. Because France was my big train worry. Anyway, this isn't a blog about France, this is about Salamanca. I'm hopefully going to get to this part of the trip soon. I think I need to be as current as possible for this trip, because once I get behind, I'm never gonna catch up. Well, maybe I would catch up in Greece.
ANYWAY. I woke up Saturday morning and got a game plan, because I knew what I wanted to see, and I wanted to get on it!
First stop was, of course, San Esteban's monastery. It's so interesting how much more I speak Spanish when I'm not in Valencia. Like, I enjoy Valencia, and it definitely gave me Spanish opportunities, but there, most of my interactions were with people who spoke English. All the people from my program talked primarily in English, my biggest extracurricular, Dr. Pennock's class was entirely in English (not that I didn't learn some very useful Spanish there) But, when I leave Valencia, especially doing airbnb like I did in Salamanca, I don't speak much English at all. My host and I talked entirely in Spanish, I took the tour in Spanish, I ordered food in Spanish, I bought tickets and all in Spanish, so when I got my ticket to the monastery, and the adorable old man at the counter gave me a heavily accented "thank you very much" it was kind of funny.
But the Monastery was just as cool as I anticipated.
It was a Dominican monastery, so they had portraits of famous Dominicans on the ceiling.
Ok, I want to stop a moment and talk about cloisters.
If pulpits are my favorite type of church art, then cloisters are my favorite part of church architecture.
One, because they always have col carvings and interesting decorations in them.
But two, and most importantly,
I love being in this church, that is usually kind of cold and drafty, and going out into this courtier and it's beautiful and open and when it's sunny it's just great.
See, look at this:
It's just awesome.
"Pantheon of the Theologians" inside the Monastery.
This is inside the room that is the Pantheon of the Theologians, and it's of some of the famous people who were monks here. Of which there were a few. It's a kind of important monastery actually.
The only son of the reyes católicos lived here for a while and died before he could take the throne (probably of something he caught from one of those prostitutes who left the city during Lent) but his tutor was also friends with Christopher Columbus (is that how you spell that? He's just called Colon here.), was instrumental in convincing Isabel to finance Columbus' first voyage.
And then, the monastery made up with it, by being home to the father of international law, a monk who tried to stop the Spanish from being as horribly inhumane as they were to the natives. Something about them being people too.
But it as a supercool monastery just architecturally.
Like, I can't even capture the coolness of this staircase.
It was kind of twisted around, and the pattern was awesome.
This is a smaller chapel. But it was cool nonetheless.
This is some saint or another. There are a lot of those in Spain.
I'm sorry, that' just an awful picture.
Ceilings!
And this is looking back out at the room with the stairway.
This is a very important Bishop who is buried in this chapel.
I love statues of Michael. He's such a fascinating character.
The actual tomb of the bishop, which is high up in the wall.
Still trying to capture the stair.
But it connects the lower cloister and upper cloister.
And this is the main chapel. Well, the main altar of the main chapel.
A little shrine on one of the wings of the chapel.
A fresco above one of the doors.
This is one of my favorite altars/chapels things I've seen. It's of the Virgin Mary (of course) and she's all in white, and I just think it's lovely.
Obligatory pulpit picture.
Now with birds at the bottom.
I don't know why I find ceilings so fascinating.
This is the chapel I liked so much.
There was a mirror so that dorks like me could better admire the ceiling.
More impressive gold things with saints in them.
It's a fresco of Jesus descending from the Cross, which I always find an interesting scene.
This was a prayer thing I found on the door of one of the chapels
"If you want your pain
to change to joy
don't pass, sinner
without praying to Maria"
It's so catholic. In other news, that translation is horrendous. Not like someone else did a bad job, I'm just not happy with my job of translating.
Oh yeah, so remember that whole "the day before Palm Sunday" thing? Well, they were all getting ready.
I'm under the choir, looking up at the main altar.
And under the choir, they were keeping the things for the processionals for Semana Santa.
I wish I could see that one all lit up.
Also, I just like this name, "Most Holy Maria of Hope." And its processional is early in the morning on Holy (Maundy) Thursday.
And here are all the processionals together.
Every good catholic church has an organ.
These processionals were tall, and the ceiling was kind of low.
I told you there were birds. At first I thought they were eagles, like that John guy, but after the audio tour in the cathedral, I think they might be pelicans or something.
This is the ceiling over one of the chapels. I had to tilt my head to figure it out.
That staircase again, but this time
We're going up it!
Into the upper cloister
Which I like just as much as the lower cloister.
Ok. I love this picture. I'm not actually hugging the giant, old book, but it looks like it, and I feel like that expresses my attitude towards it perfectly.
BECAUSE IT'S BIG. Like, why have they stopped making books 3 feet tall?
The door to the upper cloister from the choir.
This is the main chapel looking down from the choir. It was so cool.
They had this EPIC fresco above the choir. So much was going on.
And the choir was in a respectable, out of the way place.
The only problem with cloisters is that they are shaded and outside is sunny, and so pictures are awkward.
Oh. THIS WAS FASCINATING!
They had an exhibition about that monk who was the father of international law in the upper cloister, including quotes. This one says, "They sin mortally, those who violate the rights of other peoples."
Now there's some theology for you!
Again, I can't capture how large and impressive this monastery was, but I'm trying.
Also, it was another beautiful day. I had really great luck.
And back down the staircase.
I like that one.
Santa Teresa de Jesús was an important Carmelite nun in Salamanca, and this confessional is at least named after her, and possibly manned by her. And when I say important, I don't just mean a local celebrity. She's an important Spanish person.
That, in the background, is the monastery. This is right above the Cave of Salamanca.
And now to the Cathedral.
Yup, good decision.
And they've got their processional things ready too.
This kind of ceiling seems very popular in Salamanca.
This is the new cathedral by the way. Inside it's easy to tell.
And this way to the old Cathedral.
It's much... older.
And it looks it.
I mean, look at those paintings. Old.
And it was smaller.
This may be the oldest thing I saw. It's the tomb of a bishop, and the paintings around it are very old, like, almost 1000 years.
Important side note. It was REALLY REALLY REALLY cold in this cathedral. Like, outside it was a lovely day, but when I came out after spending like 2 hours in there, my fingers were numb.
And yes, I did spend 2 hours in there. Is anyone actually surprised?
There were some other paintings and things inside the Old Cathedral
And the inevitable crucifix
Ok, this altarpiece was incredible. There are like 100 little cells and each of them has a picture in it,
and then there's the mural at the top. And it was awesome.
That is actually a very very very old organ.
It's interesting to see how different this cathedral is, not just in style, but in decoration. Like, the New Cathedral, like most Gothic cathedrals, has the chapels and other ornamentation, but the walls tend to be very clean, but this one is old, and they painted all over it.
I feel like there's a Captain Hook joke to make here.
Oh, look, it's my favorite place:
THE CLOISTER!
Another very old organ
Forgive me if some of the information about this cathedral is sort of inaccurate or strange, because they gave me the audio guide in Spanish, and while my Spanish is good, I didn't focus on architectural or religious vocabulary when I learned the language.
I also really love carved lions. And this one looks kind of sad.
This is the tomb of someone very important. Not totally sure who.
But they gave him lions.
Apparently they used to have class in this room for a while, when the University was relatively new.
And this was the room where the students would sit their exams. Which was apparently a really intense process.
And after that, I returned to the New Cathedral. Which was... big.
This was a chapel that had all these little different carvings of various saints all over it. It was crazy.
I just love that light fixture.
See? Lots of carvings, but clean walls.
I do think that the size is one of my favorite things about cathedrals. It's so strange and incredible to be in this building that is so open and so much bigger than you.
Oh, so because it was the day before Palm Sunday, they were selling the palms in the cathedral for people to carry the next day.
And they were selling them out of this chapel.
And the cathedral had MORE processionals.
And some very large doors.
The dome was actually super cool, and there was a picture of a dove representing the Holy Spirit right in the middle of it, which I thought was a nice idea.
And there were flowers and such to prepare for Palm Sunday up in the main altar.
You can almost see the dove in that one.
Of course, there was also an impressive choir, with TWO impressive organs.
One of which was restored with money paid by the Emperor and Empress of Japan. Why? I don't know.
It's a lectern for the giant hymnals!
In the shadow that kind of looks like Maleficent.
I can't tell if that's a mirror or just funky perspective.
But it's making me dizzy.
See, I told you there were pelicans involved in this cathedral somehow. This is the symbol of the cathedral on a little stand thingy, and if you look at it upside-down I'm pretty sure it's a pelican in the middle. But maybe not. Spanish audio guide and all.
This chapel was very dark, but it had a really nice effect. Some good pietá goin'.
So I didn't get to see a lot of the chapels up close, because there was this thing going on in this one. There was a Virgin (a statue of Mary, not some poor girl) and everyone was going up and kissing her hands. I'm not sure why, but it was a one-day kind of thing.
A processional of angels carrying the cross. I'm a bit lost on this one.
I love the wrap-around pulpit thing.
The chapel with the virgin was all lit up, and it was really cool.
Look! It's the other organ!
I had a really good time in the cathedral, but it was SO FREAKING COLD. So I had to go outside.
So after the cathedral, and after I had sat outside for a while and unfrozen, I went over to the old university building. Because you've got to see that. And it was really cool. Apparently they spent the first 200 years of the University just sort of meeting wherever, like, in the cathedral or around, and then about 1400, they were like, "hey, we've got a good thing here. Maybe let's make a building." And so it was.
Here's an example of the way they painted "Victor" on the walls with bull's blood. They still do that, actually. But now they use paint. And only do it in certain places.
The entrance chamber
Academic garb is a strangely serious thing at U of Salamanca.
They had a bunch of old classrooms you could go in where famous professors taught.
I was having fun.
IN case you were wondering, these benches are very old.
And the ones around the edges were for important visitors to the class.
And the teacher got a little pulpit.
Why don't they do that anymore? Because they totally should.
And there was even a little courtyard/cloister thing.
This is a classroom named after a famous teacher. I think this one was killed by the inquisition. Something about heresy.
And of course, this is Spain, so there is a mudejar ceiling.
And a tower.
And the university has the pope's symbol, because the pope gave the bull to form it.
Like, it's so interesting to me, because in the US, Universities tend to be relatively secular. I mean, other than the obvious exceptions. Like, they all have chapels, and Princeton has a seminary, but in Spain, these universities and their history are inextricably linked to the papacy and the power of the Catholic Church. Even if they are secular now, they can't escape that.
This is an important hall where fancy functions are now held.
you even enter it fancily.
But most of the really really important things, like, installing a new rector, take place in this room.
So, originally each classroom was for a different discipline. This one was for medicine.
I love that ceiling. It's like a field of daisies.
This room is aptly called the "room of the column"
I love extravagant old books.
This is where they used to keep all the University's money. I hope they need a bigger box nowadays, or they are about to no longer be in business.
No university would be complete without a statue of Mary.
Or a chapel.
So this staircase represents life as a university student.
It's got there parts, as you can see here. The first has drawings of people drinking, and it represents basically wasting your life away, not knowing anything. The second I decided against take close up pictures of, and it represents passion, and learning to find the way. As students are wont to do.
and the third has the student killing the bull, and represents the end of the journey, and becoming worthy of knowledge.
The stair leads to the library.
And above the stair is the Pope's symbol again.
I was so sad they put up glass to keep me from going into the library.
Because it was really cool.
And there were threats above the door saying that anyone who stole books would be excommunicated. Which reminds me of a Firefly reference that I will not make.
And the library is located in the upper cloister.
So it's a nice view.
And they do still have a library up there, in a different room. But it was closed, and that was sad.
This is the room where the deans of the University meet.
And they like carved lions too.
Their ceiling is also very Hogwartsy
on the back of this painting, the artist tells you who all made this room. Which makes the painting very valuable.
This is a very old and very important book. It is also very large.
Back down the staircase, and
out into the city again! So the university also gave me admission to a palace that used to belong to a bishop, but it was a little ways away, so I walked through the city, and it was really nice.
I found a little hill and sat and read, and took pictures of everything around me.
On the way there was a little church.
And then the palace.
It wasn't much, just a chapel and a cloister. I think the rest was being used as a hotel.
But the cloister was pretty, and I sat and read for a while longer.
And, though I wasn't allowed up them, the stairs were cool too.
These stairs were behind glass, which reflected the arches behind it, and I think that picture is awesome.
The chapel was simple, but bigger than expected.
And they had their choir in a reasonable place too!
They even had a little processional for Semana Santa.
Then I headed back out, towards the Casa de Conchas.
The library was closed, but the building was still open so you could go look in.
Which I did.
It wasn't much, but it was nice.
And there were carved lions.
And then I headed back out, with time to spare before I wanted to head back.
So I went into this building to try to find the famous heaven of Salamanca. Which I think was part of university library, but they had to move it. And it's this really ornate ceiling that depicts the zodiac.
And I did find it, and it was VERY impressive. But they wouldn't let you take pictures. So sorry bout that.
The pope's seal is EVERYWHERE
So, since I had time, I decided to climb the tower of the old cathedral.
This one
It was really cool.
First, you went up above the old cathedral, and you could look in from there
Then you went up some more.
And there was a little exhibition hall.
And then you wound up on the roof.
I totally did not anticipate that, by the way, I thought I was just climbing the tower. But it was so cool.
The sun was in my eyes, hence this ridiculous series of selfies.
It ain't pretty, but it worked better than the other ones.
It was SO FREAKING COOL.
But it was really cool to look out over the city, and see all the buildings and the river and such.
So, remember how I got the Hunchback of Notre Dame stuck in my head?
This totally didn't help
Selfies on the catwalk out to the tower of the rooster.
which was too close to get in my frame. So that's half of it.
So then we got to go on a balcony up into the New Cathedral.
Which was SO COOL.
There. That's the tower of the rooster.
But more importantly, me.
It was absolutely dizzying being up there. It was so impressive.
I mean, I've always respected the majesty and artistry of cathedrals, but
when it's all up close and personal it's even more impressive.
Also, don't look down.
They're like little soldiers.
Right, so we went into the New Catehdral. Which was still cool.
And you did really get an even better sense of scale from all the way up there.
and a good view of the stained glass.
I was totally dorking out.
This is where they were kissing the Virgin's hands. It looked so cool from above.
That's a fun perspective.
And all the processionals from above. Those things were huge.
the candles were especially cool to look at.
Remember how I mentioned that the tower was damaged in the earthquake?
the ceiling all up close and personal.
and up some more.
Spiral staircases are very cool.
*belts out any song she can possibly remember from hunchback of Notre Dame*
But, really, mostly that one Quasimodo sings at the beginning when he's running all over the Cathedral.
Because this is the closest I'm ever going to get to that.
This was the courtyard where I saw the Heaven of Salamanca
And that's the OTHER university in Salamanca (it's the religious one, after the original one kicked theology and canon law out of the curriculum)
I don't even know what to say. This was just one of the coolest things I've ever done.
There's the dome of the New Cathedral, peeking out.
And there's still so much more to climb.
Taking these selfies was so much more difficult than you would expect.
My phone was just NOT cooperating.
WHEEEEEE
Flying Buttresses.
Selfie with Salamanca
What was I doing in this one?
And yes, I recognize that I could just delete the really bad selfies. But then I wouldn't be able to make fun of myself quite as often. And that would be sad.
Look, it's the tower of the rooster again!
Right, now we go up some more!
Toooooo......
The bell tower!
*sings the song about the bells of Notre Dame*
I'm never gonna get these songs out of my head if I don't stop visiting cathedrals.
Like that's gonna happen.
I was having such a good time.
That was above the belltower, but they didn't let us go up that far. Which was sad.
They had a glass floor, and it reflected the bells, and it was cool.
Apparently, pilgrims came here for a long time, and some of them left messages on the walls.
Looking up at the room I was just in.
I love all the little details
Sorry, I was in shadow.
There we go!
that's the Tower of the Rooster behind me, by the way.
that one.
Annnnddddd... back to the sun in my eyes.
Back on the ground *wipes tear*
Right, so after that I headed home and had an early dinner and turned in.
The next day was Palm Sunday, and according to the Cathedral website, there was a mass at 10 that I thought I could catch before I had to leave, so I headed down to the cathedral early, at like 9:15.
I went into the Cathedral, and there were people there, all running around and getting ready, but by 9:45 we were all ushered out because apparently the mass was at 11, not at 10, and they had work to do beforehand.
But it was still pretty.
And there were all sorts of people lining up to get into the cathedral once they could.
And the people who were part of the procession had their big palms, and were all dressed up in different costumes.
And the line kept getting longer.
And there were all these little girls in white
And I was having a fantastic time just watching all the pomp and circumstance proceed.
And there were all these people, who seemed to be in charge of it or part of something, and they were running around in white sweatsuits.
And then there were other people in black capes
Which looked really cool, in my humble opinion.
And little girls
Interestingly, the gender ratio of everybody seemed to be skewed heavily female. I mean, except for the priests and people forbidden from being female.
There was also a camera crew. Which I found crazy.
But there was this great air of excitement and anticipation.
And then finally they let us in
and the brotherhood over there did a huddle
and the people in costume put on their finishing touches
and we went inside.
I don't have a lot of pictures from here on out, because i didn't want to be that person.
But it was a madhouse in there. We all lined up on the way to the win alar, and there were people inside handing out greenery, and other important people who got seats and big palm fronds, and I actually got to go inside the cage of the main altar. And then the bishop showed up, and there was singing and incense, and a prayer, and then we all processed out of the New Cathedral with our greenery and our singing led by the bishop.
And I got in a third parade in Spain.
And we all went into the Old Cathedral for mass
which was so cool. Except then they started to close the doors, and I had to get to the train station before that mass would be over, and I almost got trapped in there, but I ducked out just in time.
And had a lovely walk back, past other processions and people preparing.
Because there are a lot of churches in Salamanca
And everyone was carrying the palm fronds down the street, and it was so cool.
But I got back to the apartment, picked up my stuff, and went to the train station. After an uneventful, but beautiful train ride back (I did write several blogs) I wound up in Valencia, and went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant with the group.
It was a hilarious experience, because everyone really wanted Mexican, but didn't really understand the menu, so we each ordered at least twice once we realized what we really wanted. But we had a good time. And when we got back to the dorm, I pretty much went straight to bed. I mean, the next day started finals week.
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