I have written before about the wonderful work of stonemasons, but every time I visit a city where there are medieval marvels, such as in Salamanca, I am amazed once more.

The sheer volume of stone work in this beautiful city is unbelievable, from the cathedral to the many monasteries and churches. Add to that the beauty of just the, ‘ordinary’, buildings, and you have an incredible city.

It is not one that many people visit though. It has been on my Mum’s wishlist for a long time, and I was aware of it through its educational history, but it is not a tourist hot spot like many of the southern Spanish cities, such as Cordoba and Granada.

We went in January, by train from Alicante.  Spanish trains are wonderful, so clean, comfortable and reliable, and very cheap! We stayed at a beautiful hotel, the San Polo, built on the ruins of an old church, and right opposite the cathedral. It was like staying in an archaeological dig.

This top photo on the left below is the view from our room. We didn’t visit the cathedral on the first day though, as the weather forecast was better that day, so we did the city wandering that day.

The city museum is housed in an old palace, surprisingly similar to the ones in cities like Cordoba. I had not expected the same type of architecture as this is usually a design used for very hot climates. Northern Spain is more temperate, but there were similar patios and cloisters everywhere.

I have seen a lot of religious art on my travels, but these were exquisite.

I think my favourites were definitely the gun wielding angels! I have not seen anything like that before, and the painting of the fabric was so detailed.

The university dates from the 13th century and has a wealth of gorgeous buildings, some of which are former palaces, and medieval cloisters.

It is a tradition to go and look for the Salamanca frog, part of one of the carved doorways, and we found it almost straight away. This is supposed to bring you good luck.

We also wanted to see the shell building, another palace which is now the public library.  I have never seen anything like it, so unusual, with such beautiful iron work.

I took so many photos, and we visited so many incredible buildings, that I am going to have to split this trip over a few posts.

My plans have changed slightly, and I am now spending more time at the Scone Campsite near Perth. This means, combined with some lovely Scottish rain, that I am having some additional R and R today, before moving on at the weekend.

This is my current view, with my new tent being tested for its waterproofing, so I am enjoying a day of reading and crochet 😉

Nice weather will hopefully be resumed tomorrow, and the forecast for the weekend is better, meaning I can hopefully visit some more Trust properties at the weekend.

I hope that you are all enjoying whatever you are doing, and will see you all again soon. Thanks for visiting.