I just arrived home in Cadiz after a long weekend in Caceres, Salamanca, and Merida with my favorite group of extranjeros! We loaded the bus at 8:00 am sharp Thursday morning and made our way north!
First we stopped in Caceres, a small city about 6 hours from Cadiz. Since we arrived during siesta, the town was incredibly quiet and shops were closed. Also, the center plaza was shut down for renovation. But Asya, Christina and I weren't fazed! When we walked around, looking at the old buildings and churches, our interest shifted towards a grassy hill off in the distance. Let me preface this side-note by saying that Cadiz, though beautiful with its beaches and quintessential European streets, has no grass. We Seattleites find this disorienting. So the three of us wound down streets, crossed several intersections, passed multiple homes (trespassed?) and finally found ourselves at the base of this hill. We promptly perched ourselves a ways up for a picnic, complete with bocadillos and horrendous off-tune versions of musical soundtracks. It was great...and we even made it back to the bus on time (or one minute late, as Adrian reminded us). In my natural habitat:
When we arrived in Salamanca that evening, the first thing that hit us was the COLD. But our appreciation for being off the crowded bus outweighed the shocking temperature. Asya and I hauled our bags up the six flights of stairs to our hotel room in the tower, complete with a breathtaking view of the beautifully lit city at night. We joined a few others for a random initial glimpse of Salamanca (getting lost multiple times) before finding an all-you-can-eat Italian restaurant near the hotel. Two plates of pasta, two glasses of wine, and 6 slices of pizza later (per person!), we were tired and full, so retired to Christina and Adrian’s room for an episode of The Office before falling asleep.
The next morning, we had a group tour of Salamanca. I wished Laura—a friend of mine who studied there over the summer—was still around to show me the city she came to know. We learned about the university (one of great importance in Spain), the cathedral and the plaza mayor, among other things. Salamanca’s symbol is the little green frog…for good luck! Later, we found a little café with goat cheese sandwiches and coffee with Baileys to warm us up before an afternoon of shopping. We played with make-up in Sephora and I found a black pea coat (without wool!) at H&M.
That night, we again ended up in Christina and Adrian’s room and told stories and laughed until Rita (the director) came to quiet us down. She thought sharing a wall and window with those two would be a good idea, but she thought wrong. So we all headed upstairs to our room, where we listened to Christmas music until the early hours of the morning.
Saturday was spent wandering and doing last-minute purchases before we boarded the bus for Merida, a teeny tiny old town famous for its Roman ruins. Since Merida has no signs of life after dark, we holed in and watched The Time Traveler’s Wife before venturing out for a really good Italian dinner.
And today…we saw the ruins, which were absolutely beautiful (even the second time). But the lens of my camera was more focused on the colorful fallen leaves and other signs proving that it truly is autumn, although it often doesn’t feel like it.
As we crossed the bridge back into Cadiz this evening, Rita reminded us that we only have three full weeks of class left here; she encouraged us to take advantage of the short amount of time. As for me, I'm doing my best!
