Still raining as we drove out of Ávila and west through the “cereal lands”, gentling rolling lush green fields. Spain has had a very wet winter and with the current rainy period, the plowed areas are now getting flooded. We drove back roads in search of the elusive Great Bustard, but did manage to see a pair of beautiful Red-Legged Partridges, with bright red legs and bills.
We drove into Salamanca about 1 pm and easily found the Hotel Rector, a very elegant small hotel, and were greeted in our somewhat grubby state as if we actually belonged there! Lovely room with marble bath and lobby with stained glass window. It was only partly cloudy by then, so we set off to explore the town, which we found to be one of our favorite cities anywhere. Salamanca’s buildings are all constructed of golden-colored sandstone and it is full of beautiful plazas and cathedrals with drip-castle spires. It has the oldest university in the world, established in 1218 and has a lively student and café atmosphere. Got a double scoop of pistachio ice cream and wandered around.
Back to the hotel where we cleaned up and retired to the bar for drinks and to try to connect to the wireless. As it’s raining up north and as we like it so much here, we decided to stay another night in Salamanca, have dinner at a one-star Michelin restaurant nearby and sleep in tomorrow. We got to the tiny six-table Victor Gutierrez Restaurant a little after nine and had an amazing array of exotic foods, starting with bits of cod in a sauce, a dab of very cold thick cream sprinkled with cheese and olive oil, ceviche, pate layered with smoked salmon and caramelized apple, baby lobster tail with soft boiled egg, suckling pig and red deer with poached pear. Rolled out of there about 11:30 and walked by the illuminated cathedral and back to our hotel.
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