Salamanca

On Sunday, we headed to Salamanca. It was an all-day affair. We left Barcelona in the morning on a high-speed train; the girls enjoyed the novelty of that. We arrived in Madrid Atocha station about 3 hours later. Our next train left Madrid Chamartín Station, so we took a taxi there and got some lunch before our next train ride: also about 3 hours, but much slower and traveling less distance. Once we were settled at our apartment, we met a colleague for dinner and then ice cream on the Plaza Mayor.

Salamanca was where my conference was, so the rest of the family took the lead on sightseeing. They spent a couple of mornings at Parque de las Jesuitas, a park that has a good children's playground. DD1 especially liked the zip line. On Monday afternoon, DH took the girls on a walk to the cathedral. It was a hot day, so he kept them going with water and ice cream. I joined them for dinner.

Tuesday was a half day for me, so I could join everyone for lunch. It was quite hot again, and the girls were still operating on less sleep than usual, so we headed back for naps. Afterwards, we took a walk so I could see the cathedral and find the astronaut on the facade.

Then we went to the historic building of the University of Salamanca. They're celebrating their 800th anniversary this year: pretty impressive! We found the frog for good luck (psst: look on the skull!).

I also snapped some pics of Unamuno's house because I enjoyed reading his books in my Spanish classes.

After some souvenir shopping, we found a place for dinner and returned to the Plaza Mayor for ice cream. Many outdoor cafes--and all of the ones on the plaza--had screens set up for the World Cup, so it's been interesting to see people's reactions during key plays.

That night we did some packing and turned in late. Paris was our next stop!