Visit to Salamanca

This was a touring day in Salamanca, Spain. The navigable part of the Douro River actually ends in Spain. So: we docked the boat (after another big lock) and took a bus to Salamanca. What an amazing city.

Of course, most of the tour revolves around the old, historic medievil part of the city. The town is known for it's university, and it is considered a great honor to be accepted to study here. We arrived on a special festival day when all of the medical students were dressed in assorted costumes and going around in the main square (Plaza Major) having fun and being silly.

We visited both the Old (1100 ad) and New (1513) Cathedrals ... they are connected to each other; the old is lovely and the new is quite spectacular. There is an area near the cathedrals which was the Jewish area. Little remains other then a single building with a Star of David motif along the top. The do not know what the building was (maybe a synagogue?) All of their Jewish population disappeared in 1492 with the Inquisition.

The frog is the symbol of good luck, and it tops one of the skulls on the facade of the Old University. According to the legend, any student who fails to see the frog will also fail his exams and never finish his studies. Another part of the legend: the frog on the skull was there to warn the students to be aware of women, as they may distract them from their studies and the prostitutes could give them fatal diseases. Thus the image of the scull as a reminder of death. Every shop in town is filled with frogs and skulls!!
ps: Disclaimer: I needed to pull a couple of these photos off the interenet. We just couldn't get good ones on our own.