Weekend in Salamanca

So it has been a while since I have blogged, but honestly, the weather here this past week has been in the 60's and sunny, so can you blame me?? There is so much to do outside in this weather. All the restaurants are setting up their outside terraces with table and chairs, everyone is outside all the time.

But anyway, last weekend we had a weekend trip with our study abroad program to Salamanca, Spain, about 2 and a half hours north west of Madrid. We left at 4:30 Friday afternoon to go meet the bus, which was much more favorable than the typical 9am meeting time. Salamanca is a much smaller town, but it is a very popular college town, so there was a lot going on at all times, just like Madrid. Our hotel was in a good location, we explored as soon as we got there, and found that they have a Plaza Mayor just like in Madrid. It was all lit up at night and absolutely beautiful!
Saturday morning we got up and visited la catedral, and Universartaria de Salamanca, two very old and beautiful historical buildings. We had the rest of the day and evening to explore and shot through out the rest of the city. We were surprised to see that all the stores and restaurants closed down from about 4:30 to 8:30 for siesta. Which we knew that they celebrated in Spain, but it is not really followed in Madrid since it's such a big city.
Sunday morning we got up and headed back to the bus as a group. We had a wine tasting scheduled at a wine vineyard called hacienda zorita. It was the most beautiful plot of land, on a small river, with a spa and wedding chapel. They showed us how to swirl the wine in the glass, smell it, swish it around in our mouths, spit it out, and then finally sip it. It was delicious. They also provided us with cheese, salami, mini hamburgers, and crackers. We were in heaven since we hadn't eaten since the night before.We made our way back to Madrid after the wine tasting. It was a great weekend away though, I loved everything about Salamanca!!