MI left Vienna City Center right after a lovely lunch very close to the airport express train yesterday on Monday. My cousin, Martina, joined Susanne, Peter, and me. The flight was short of three hours and I had a hotel reservation at the Madrid Airport. To call the hotel for a pickup, I decided to get a SIM card for my phone right at the airport. After a good night’s sleep, I went back to the Airport today Wednesday, to catch a bus to Salamanca. So here I am checked into my hostel and ready to walk tomorrow morning. The weather here in Spain is quite a bit warmer than in Vienna which was hit with a cold spell. Nevertheless, I already miss all my relatives in Austria—we had such a great visit.
I spent more than two hours visiting first the new Cathedral (16th-18th centuries) and adjoining it the old Cathedral (12th-14th centuries). So much architectural character and art pieces as well as religious relics—it’s hard to take it all in. Since the Salamanca diocese was once part of the Santiago diocese, the two cities have a special relationship. Some of that comes through a special exhibit in one of the halls of the old Cathedral that has a statue of St James.
Before looking at some memorable pictures from Salamanca, I had to insert a picture of the alps we flew over on the way to Madrid—makes you shiver just looking at them. Next is the new Cathedral, then the house of shells built by a knight of the order of St James; the statue of St James in the old Cathedral; and the interior of the new Cathedral.
And I couldn’t resist a churro with hot chocolate in Plaza Mayor:
