End of second week

We’re now about halfway done with our time in Salamanca. We’ll be here for another two weeks. In two Fridays, we’re meeting up with some friends from Manila, who are here in Spain visiting family. They’re actually going to drive up to Salamanca from Granada to spend a few days here. Then they’re taking us with them back to Granada where we’ll get to sightsee for a few days before returning back to Madrid to catch our plane back home.

We have a great and simple routine here: swim in the morning, eat a quick breakfast of fresh fruit, then walk to Grace’s school and the public library (sometimes with a stop at the public market for some cherries or sheep cheese). I work at the library from 10:00-2:00 while Grace is in class and then we walk back to our apartment, where a big meal is waiting for us. We’ll catch up on email, take a nap, and then head back to the library for an evening work session. This past week, we’ve been stopping by a place serving tapas on our walk back to catch the second half of whatever World Cup game is playing.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned it before, but the weather here is unbelievably perfect. Everyone warned us that it would be really hot but there is zero humidity in the air. So while it may get up to 90 in the afternoon, it still feels fantastic.

Below are some more photos from our wanderings around Salamanca.

we can't get enough cerezas!

Grace's school hosted a night of sampling various tapas

Patatas brava and tortilla while hanging out with some of Grace's classmates at a big park near our apartment

a typical menu for a fixed-price meal (but we don't really eat out since the food at our apartment is so good)

view of the cathedral (note the stork flying in the top right part)

a view of the Puente Romano from another bridge

this is what the rest of Salamanca looks like

we crossed the river to get a different view of the city

the Puente Romano is thought to have been built in the 1st century AD

crossing the bridge back to the city

view of the end of the bridge

another view of the cathedral

University students apparently used to write their names on the walls of buildings when they graduated

an evening view from the Puente Romano

The intricate facade of the University of Salamanca

It has this famous little frog on top of the skull.

The Plaza Mayor at night

note the TV showing world cup games on the right