Salamanca - The Cathedral Facade (Moorish(, Shell House, Order of St. JamesOrder

Salamanca, Spain, Cathedral facade

Spain was controlled for five hundred years or so by  the Moors - the architectural and other influences are everywhere.

Here is another kind of influence - individuality. The shell shapes affixed to the side of this house cast different shadows as the day moves on.



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Salamanca, Spain, Shell House

See it at //www.travelinginspain.com/salamanca/salamanca2.htm/ Casa de las Conchas. It was built in the 1500's and is now a library, but once was the palace of Rodrigo Maldonado. He was a knight, of the St. James Order (is that part of what much later was named the New Orleans St. James' Infirmary in our culture? I went down to the St. James' Infirmary.... blues - hear this New Orleans traditional at ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-atDxmfnIrI&feature=related).

The Order of St. James was formed in the 12th Century, see The Ancient Military Order of St. James of the Sword at ://jvarnoso.com/orders/stjamesrev.html/ It was part of the First Crusade, and upon return, its members continued on the Iberian Peninsula, gathering recruits. It also aided the Iberian kings in the reconquest from the Muslims. See its full history at the site.

The shell is the insignia of the Order. It also is the sign carried by many pilgrims on their pilgrimages - the scallop shell.

St. James' Way is the name of the Pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela - the pilgrims carried scallop shells to show their status as Pilgrims, not carrying much, so please do not rob. See a German pilgrim represented as leaving for Santiago de Compostela, at Speyer,Germany - see Germany Road Ways, Heidelburg, and Speyer and Pilgrims  Meet Jakob Spilgar there.

Salamanca - Plaza Mayor, Performances

Salamanca, Spain, Plaza Mayor

Salamanca dates from before Roman times, came under the Visigothic Kings, then the Arabs, and back and forth until the reconquest. It is particularly known for its university, famous in Medieval Spain and Europe. In 1254, the university was deemed to be one of the four leading lights of the world, by Pope Alexander IV. What were the other three? See ://www.aboutsalamanca.com/salamanca/history.asp

There is never a shortage of things to do at the end of the day. Find the main square, the "Plaza Major" - stroll, spectate, eat etc. Eat more.

Salamanca, Spain, Plaza Major, Performers

Here were jugglers.

Salamanca, Spain, Musicians

As it gets darker, go inside to eat some more, and for the musicians. Plaza Major - no end to the variety of street and eatery performances. Jugglers, music, clowns, mimes.

Salamanca houses one of Europe's earliest and finest Universities. It is northeast from Madrid. See www.red2000.com/spain/salaman.

Tapas and food

Any Plaza Major. Head for the main square. Eat outdoors and order at random. Point to unknowns, or to someone else's plate, and take what comes.Tapas. Bite-size. Eat until full.

Oreilles: You may think you are ordering little pasta ear-shells, and in will come braised pig's ears. A little salty, but cartilagenous and tasty. Recipes: oreja de oro at recipes.caribseek.com/Curacao/salted-pigs-ears. See also fooddownunder.com/cgi-bin/recipe.cgi?r=21214.

Here is another write-up on tapas and food -Rick Steves (excellent travel guides) at www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/spain/tapas0008. For an overview of the individualized portions of many things - appetizers that can become an entire meal - see www.arrakis.es/%7Ejols/tapas/indexin.

Here is a site that talks about beef showing up on menus now, but this was not always the case. See the huge menu of environmental, climate and other nature items in Spain, materwww.iberianature.com. Scroll down the right menu to the food in Spain section, and then to beef.

Restaurants with tablecloths: beware, unless you plan to pay restaurant prices.

More blogs about Spain Road Ways.