Just Because You Like Tuna in Salamanca Does Not Mean You Like Seafood:Salamanca Night One

Editor note: This post describes my first evening in Salamanca. The rest of the trip is described in the post below.

Arriving at Salamanca, I exited the train from the second train stop. There, my friend Javier met me with his girlfriend Lucia. He offered to give me a brief walking tour of the city before I checked in to my hostel.

The city has three main landmarks: the Plaza Mayor, the university, and the cathedrals. First, we stopped at a tourist office to get a map and museum guide; both very helpful. The latter two landmarks I will have to visit tomorrow.

Plaza Mayor

Clock tower of Salamanca City Hall on the Plaza Mayor

This evening,I visited throne landmark open nearly 24/7: the Plaza Mayor. They say the Plaza Mayor in Salamanca is the best in all of Spain. They do have some rationale. Visiting the plaza just after 19:00, the plaza lights were all on, producing a rather romantic view. The plaza is larger than the one in Madrid, I think. The center of attention is the bell tower and flags identifying the city hall of Salamanca. Bordering the plaza are some touristy stores and a number of bars and cafes. My guide book recommended a few for desert and coffee, but at this time I needed dinner. My book recommended Restaurante Isidro, close to the plaza.
My hostel is only a block away from the plaza.

Surrounding the plaza mayor are a number of smaller plazas, more like glorified street corners. I, naturally, got lost and had to consult my map to find the restaurant. Arriving just before 20:00, the restaurant only opens at 20 hours, so I had more time to kill. I walked down the main shopping street, as identified by Javier earlier. The streets were filled with people, mainly high school and college aged people. All of the stores were filled with student aged people. If you had to assess the demographics of the city just from walking down the streets, you would think the city was run by students! Call it the Ann Arbor of Spain.
The other reason for its fame is the university. We walked briefly past the university, which really does nothing to separate itself from the town. You can imagine college towns with a college and a town, but in this case, the college is the town. It's what you get for having the oldest university in Salamanca.
Returning to the restaurant just after it opened, eating dinner was much needed at this point. Naturally, the restaurant did not disappoint. For the menu of the day, I started out with loaf of 'fluffy' bread and a bottle of house wine. Yes, a whole bottle of red wine. The first plate I selected was the local appetizer plate: calamari  ham, Iberian ham, chorizo, and cheese. Everything was delicious, minus the calamari which was rather bland. I would argue the ham here was the best I've had in Spain. Next, pork slices with salad and French fries. The fries needed ketchup but the pork was well prepared. For desert, a sundae size of chocolate moose. It complemented the wine rather well. To finish, a choice of coffee, though I chose tea. Finishing half the bottle of wine, the bill was only 12.50 eur. Not a bad deal for a nice relaxing hour long dinner.
Even at this time, most of the stores were closing. All of the bars were in full spring of course. Returning to a bar I had entered earlier, I encountered the famous student singers of Salamanca. Students at the university dress in traditional attire and serenade the bar patrons. I noticed the same group of six before dinner and they were still there when I returned. Maybe the drinks are free for them; I didn't ask. The second time around, they sang for a few female bar patrons and then joined some drunks in a few love songs.

'Tuna' of Salamanca

I managed to talk with a few of them. Their group, the 'Tuna' (look it up), carries on the tradition of students who would sing to pay for their education. Now, it is more like a fraternity. Anyone can apply (guys only, I don't know?) but the pledges are voted in after the end of the year. The pledges are identified by different attire. One pledge wore parachute pants, a striped bath robe, and a turban. He was also the one who took a picture of me with the singers.

Me and Tuna

Walking around the plaza another time, I paid more attention to the people this time. Many we're dressed in costume. Some students were dressed as American foot ball players and throwing a football around. Another group dressed as terrorists who managed to pick up a group of wandering girls. A few beggars bothered me, but not that much.