Via de la Plata vs the French Route

[Rosina Lila]

Hi Deanna,
I've become persuaded that one's life is not complete without having been in
Salamanca..... the learning/teaching city of them all. When you arrive there,
a week hence, tyou'll find that more than one-third of the people there are
students; of  them  most are graduate students, and a full one-third are
foreigners.  You'll find Italiani dappertutto, Francais partout and Britishers
everywhere.
Salamanca must be the last best kept secret of world wonders on this earth.
You'll find enchanting  dances in the sky, in late afternoon,  performed by
storks, hundreds of them, in magnificent beauty,  who've decided not to sojourn
to Africa anymore.
You'll find pedestrian shopping streets that become open air restaurants at
dusk, enlightened   by musicians, tango dancers, saltimbanchi,  conversation,
or just awareness of the fortune of being there .
You will find the most Santiagoish of all buildings: a medieval palazzo
entirely covered by shells, which is now a library, and  you will find a modern
(16th century) Cathedral abutting the old (10th Century) Cathedral which
structure and perduring art works will leave anyone with blood in her/his veins, just
speechless in stunned wonder.
By the way, you can go up to the roof of the Cathedrals; you'll find
priceless exhibits up there, including a sound-and-film Camino homage, and a marble,
beautiful, ancient statue of Santiago.
The Fonseca of Santiago fame..... the one who is crediting with building  the
city of Santiago, was from Salamanca.  While in Salamanca  do go visit the
palazzo he built, in the center of  the city, to impress a damsel whose favors
he sought. He didn't succeed in his romantic endeavors, whereupon he became a
priest,  and eventually the bishop who built the casco of Santiago de
Compostela.
Do tour the Salamanca Universities..... the word University (Univesidade....
universal) derives from the concept of learning and teaching which began in
Salamanca in the 9th Century.
And do walk over the 9th century Roman bridge, and gaze upon the oldest
extant Roman sculptures outside of Italy  still standing where they were first
built.
I was, and am,  wide-eyed, openmouthed, spellbound by the place... and can't
wait to go and spend months and months there.
As far as finding Via de la Plata guides,and whatever.... you needn't worry.
Salamanca is the educational city in the Western world (perhaps even beyond)
par excellence.  What cannot be found there isn't worth finding.
There are also lots of monasteries and convents with monks and nuns PhD'd in
the Camino whose mission in this life appears to be to illuminate and help
pilgrims on their way.
If you haven't made hotel arrangements,  try the hotel "Don Juan"... it is in
the middle of the whole thing  and you will be awakened by the noisy goings
on of the storks instructing their young in the huge nests on the bellfry,
right across your window.
My dear, you are blessedly fortunate.
Hugs!
Rosina
,
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.oakapple.net/pipermail/gocamino/attachments/20040924/fce745f9/attachment.htm