Skip to content

Travel. Style. Food.

A lifestyle blog – food, reviews, travel, beauty, books, events and more

Menu
  • LINKS
  • ABOUT/CONTACT
  • REVIEWS
  • TRAVEL
  • PORTUGAL
  • SPAIN
  • LIFESTYLE
  • RESTAURANTS
  • HOME
Menu

Salamanca Diary Day 4 – The New and Old Cathedral

Posted on September 15, 2014September 15, 2014 by Emma

coffee

Day four in our trip, and it’s finally the sun’s time to shine! We left the hotel and the heat smacked us like a freight train, causing us to whip out our sunglasses simultaneously. I bet those who saw us thought we were mega cool. This was a while ago mind you, so really the sunglasses thing was probably all my imagination. Let’s go with it anyway.

We started the day with an iced coffee; needing to set ourselves right after all those cocktails from the previous evening.  Totally in the belief that the ‘third time lucky,’ idiom couldn’t fail us, we decided to make this our day to venture up to the top of the cathedral. 

icedplazaplazalibertadflowers

We first paid a visit to Plaza de la Libertad, a beautiful little square that manages to exist as a peaceful spot, despite the restaurants and bars that border it.; not to mention that it’s located just through the most popular arch of the Plaza Mayor, toward Calle Zamora. I say this is the most popular arch as the square’s clock resides above it. This clock is pretty famous, and people meet there all the time – family, groups of friends, first daters…language exchange partners..you get the idea.

Pictures taken and plans made to return to visit the very cool Hernandez y Fernandez (a great bar!) and go for dinner at Zazu (review pending) both located in the Plaza de la Libertad, it was time to see the foundations of the Old and New cathedral  and view all of Salamanca from as high as we could go.

cathedralchurch2steps2windows

We paid the entry fee (€3.50 each during the middle of summer..bargain!) and started to climb the steps toward the top. To be honest, I found myself clambering after a short while. The steps were so tiny and steep. As someone afraid of heights, I was apprehensive about what was ahead but tried not to be a wuss. Niall and Sarah both remained cool as cucumbers, making fun of me at times but supporting me mostly. How I love those two.

stepsScreen Shot 2014-09-15 at 12.15.48Screen Shot 2014-09-15 at 12.12.52Screen Shot 2014-09-15 at 12.13.08Screen Shot 2014-09-15 at 12.13.25organ

We’re halfway up and we start to see signs requesting silence – we were approaching the new cathedral from above. So many times I’ve visited and winced when I saw tiny people high above…I never knew I’d be one of them someday! I wish I could have added some pictures of the beauty down below but they seem to have a lot of it cornered off these days so we couldn’t go in.

churchroofdetail

The attention to detail inside the cathedral is just as mind blowing as its exterior. The organ and stained glass designs are incredible, and the ribbed vaulting and flying buttresses overhead look like bunched silk sheets (to me anyway!) I could never even dream of designing something so spectacular.

butressesScreen Shot 2014-09-15 at 12.16.19rooftopgutterclock

We continued toward the top, and stopped at the next level that precedes the final staircase. I’ll never forget the heat; or the fear I felt when we realised how close we were to the cathedral’s clock; we were nearly at the bell tower!

As the bell tower is narrow, only a certain amount of people are allowed up at a time. We waited by the steps until the countdown showed a green man, and finished our journey to the top…

top

roof

I’m glad we waited for a clear and sunny day. Just look at the view!

Screen Shot 2014-09-15 at 12.17.26Screen Shot 2014-09-15 at 12.17.05

underthebell

Here’s Sarah and I standing under one of the bells, moments before it chimed. It scared us out of our wits. Especially Sarah. She’s going to kill me for this one….

Screen Shot 2014-09-15 at 12.17.44

There’s a touchscreen system at the bell tower where you can email yourself a picture postcard. Once you press send, a bell chimes. A cool idea, don’t you think? Here’s our one..

Screen Shot 2014-09-15 at 12.30.47
We had worked up quite an appetite from our triumphant trek to the top and back again. The weather was still beautiful (if not hotter – Salamanca is often at it’s hottest around 5pm) so we ventured down to Calle Obispo Jarrín to Bar Mario to sit in the sun over a late lunch.
barmariomenu

The concept of Bar Mario is a clever one. Everything they offer is on a checklist – drinks on one side, food on the other. You can order soft drinks, wine, beer, sangria…then flip it over and take your pick from a list of sandwiches, burgers, scrambled egg dishes and patatas bravas.

You can take your time ordering and you’ll know what’s in everything, which is win-win for picky eaters. It’s a nice change from times where there are so many tapas on offer, I find myself trying to guess what they are and take far too long to decide, while probably exasperating some poor bar man.

tintodeveranogambas

Whatever you order comes out on a tray – crispy fresh rolls hot from the oven and plates piled high with patatas bravas smothered in sauces tend to appear on most tables. You can ask for as many checklists as you like and it’s crazy cheap. You could easily get carried away and sit there all day trying everything on the menu!

I recommend the tostada de gambas con ali-oli (fresh crispy bread with garlic mayonnaise and prawns cooked to perfection) and the pechuga de pollo con queso azul y piquillo (chicken breast sandwich with blue cheese sauce and peppers.)

For more information on visiting the Old and New Cathedral, click here for the website.

Bar Mario (a must-visit spot for students!) is located on Calle Obispo Jarrín, 37001 Salamanca.

♥ ♥ ♥

Follow TSF on Bloglovin’

Follow on Bloglovin
Follow on Bloglovin

FEATURED

Banners for European Lifestyle Blogs Award 2018

FEATURED

Empty Lighthouse Travel Awards

​

Featured

Afternoon Tea

Blog Awards Ireland 2015

Image Blog Awards 2014 Finalist

View my food journey on Zomato!

Archives

  • November 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • September 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • August 2012
  • June 2012
© 2022 Travel. Style. Food. | Powered by Superbs Personal Blog theme