Hidden Treasure in Salamanca!

There is no better place on Earth to study Spanish than in Salamanca! The city’s majestic architecture, cultural history, and linguistic purity are unique characteristics that, for me, make Salamanca a city of hidden treasure.

Due to its lavishly decorated sandstone cathedrals and university buildings, Salamanca is so distinctively called La Dorada (“The Golden City”). Not only does the sun bathe Salamanca’s landmarks in resplendence right before sunset, but the city is rich with local legends and stories.

I tagged along a guided tour of the city and learned about the cleverly hidden “lucky frog” (“la rana de suerte”) on the main façade of the Universidad Civil building. According to legend, university students received good luck for a year with their studies if they found the frog without help. Nowadays, tourists will gaze upward for an hour in the hopes that they find the frog and are then blessed with one year of good luck. If you go to Salamanca, this is a must-do before you leave!

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Salamanca: my Spanish course in the Golden City

Salamanca was exactly how I imagined it would be – and I immediately understood why they call it ‘The Golden City’

As the bus got nearer and nearer, I could see the sandstone buildings on the horizon glowing like gold when the sun shone on them.  What a sight!  In fact I was so impressed I had forgotten all about the rain clouds that had been following me all the way from Madrid.

Getting to Salamanca was actually really easy.  I had flown to Madrid and took a taxi from the airport to the bus station (Estacion de conde la casal, Auto Res).   From there I took a coach directly to Salamanca, which only cost about 24 Euros and took a little under 3 hours. Simple!

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“If you spot the frog in Salamanca…”

‘When you get to Salamanca, don’t forget to visit the university and look for the frog’, said my friend. This was how I ended up standing in front of the beautiful university façade for 30 minutes…looking for the Frog! In the end I found it, but it was not easy! I don’t want to give it all away and tell you where is it located – that’s something that you HAVE to do for yourself when you visit this amazing golden city!

I spent a wonderful week in Salamanca  studying Spanish in a fabulous school! I chose Salamanca because a friend of mine had been there for his Erasmus year and he was so incredibly enthusiastic about the city. My first view of Salamanca was from the coach. We drove out of a grey cloud and Salamanca was there, shining gold (resplendendo de oro) and with sun rays falling across the old houses!!!

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