Salamanca

Mon, Dec 21st: Got up around 11:30 this morning, because we had all slept so late. Sarah had left for class at 11, and we decided we should probably be awake before she returned... so we got dressed and tried to organize our stuff a little. We also let the cat out of the kitchen, where he had been locked so as not to pounce on our faces during the night. ;)

The cat is a secret – Sarah isn’t supposed to have a cat here, but his name is Romeo (Row-MAY-owe), and he is the most ANIMATED cat ever – very sweet, but loves to take the candy out of her candy dish on the living room table and play with it, batting lollipops around until he knocks them too far under the couch to retrieve. It is adorable!

After Sarah got back from class, Hannah, Amelia and I went back to the cathedral so we could go inside. When we got there, a Spaniard began telling us interesting factoids about the cathedral, such as why it was decorated as it was, the fact that to touch the rabbit by the doorway is good luck, and some other things. Then expected to be paid for it... so Amelia gave him a Euro. We went inside and wandered around for a little before leaving to find the Museo Art Nouveau y Art Deco, which was originally a guys’ house with lots of beautiful stained glass built in the early 20th century, that he dedicated to be this museum (with many of his own figurines). However, it is closed on Mondays, so we went to the front of the cathedral for pictures instead. Then we went to buy our bus tickets for our next trip at the station. Got Hannah’s trip to Madrid for the next morning, and our trip to San Sebastian (along with a schedule for San Sebastian to Barcelona). After that, we went back to Sarah’s because it was too cold outside. Hannah took a nap while Amelia and I did computer stuff. Sarah woke up (she decided to sleep through her class, because they don't matter for her school) and we just hung out and talked the whole evening – her friend Amy (who was in her program) came in from Madrid and had to catch a train very early, so was going to stay the night also. She didn’t hang out though – she was trying to say goodbye to everyone in Salamanca and finish up Christmas shopping. The rest of us just stayed up and talked until going to bed at 11:30 so we could get up with Hannah the next morning.

Tues, Dec 22nd: Hannah had to get up and out by 5am to catch her bus at 6 to Madrid. So we were all up, because Amy was up at the same time for the train. We got her packed and downstairs before realizing we weren’t sure where we had told the cab to be (Sarah had given us a hotel name). I went running down the street in my PJ pants, looking for this place, but by the time I got back they had found it and Hannah was gone. So Amelia and I went back upstairs and back to bed until around 1:30pm... she was still sick, and I was just tired from being up so early repeatedly. We were up before Sarah though, so we munched on some food and began to try planning our time in Italy. Around 5pm we actually went outside and revisited the Museo Art Nouveau y Art Deco, and actually got in this time. :) Then we went shopping at Carrefour (which is kinda Spain's answer to our Walmart, but with food) for groceries, because Amelia was making dinner for Sarah tonight. Pasta and SUPER vege-spaghetti sauce with garlic bread. It smelled so good... we tried to cook it as slowly as possible to give Sarah time to wake back up – she is getting sick also, and has been sleeping all day [but up all night]. Planned for Italy some more before realizing she was up. So we ate dinner together and decided to go out in the evening. We went to a little Irish Pub around the corner and Sarah treated us to Gin & Tonics (which I probably won’t get again). Around 2am we got back to the apartment, then stayed up and talked/hung out until 4:30am... before finally going to bed. Halfway through the night our air mattress was so deflated that Amelia went to sleep with Sarah in her bed, which takes up almost her entire bedroom it’s so big. ;) But then I was on the floor... so I put my backpack and all my stuff on the other side to lift me back up. :)

Wed, Dec 23rd: I woke up at 10:30am and decided to clean the kitchen because Amelia and Sarah weren’t up yet. Got ready and got on my computer before they were up at 12:30. Sarah has a friend from the states coming today, and there was a mix up because he thought she was supposed to be meeting him in Madrid, and she was planning on him getting himself to Salamanca. Drama... ;) So now we just had to wait for him to get here...

Followed up on the angry-polite email to API for not refunding more of our money for housing next semester before going out with Sarah for her Christmas shopping before Dan arrived. We split part way through as Amelia and I needed to go to Carrefour one more time for more vegetables and Sarah had to get Dan. We got back to the apartment and made more pasta (apparently Amelia knows hundreds of ways to prepare pasta).

Sarah and Dan finally came back from the rest of their Christmas shopping, and the four of us hung out in her apartment for a little before going out for drinks and ‘pinchas’ (tapas) across the street. We didn’t stay out long because everyone was tired, and we all had to get up the next morning for our respective trips. Dan, Amelia and Sarah all slept in her bed (which was plenty big), and I slept in the living room again for two reasons: 1) I thought I would be getting up earlier than them, and 2) I’m afraid if I sleep on Sarah’s memory foam that I will never be able to go back to crap beds later...

Thurs, Dec 24th: Christmas Eve. Turns out I was up the same time as everyone else, but it took all of us a while to find our stuff and get going. Dan and Sarah took a cab to the bus station, while Amelia and I got instructions on where to find the frog of Salamanca, which is good luck and very well-known. It was raining again, like every morning, so it was a quick jaunt. We think we found it, but it was so high on the column of the building that it could have been something else... ;)
We were in the bus station early, and so sat around for two hours singing Christmas carols to ourselves and rating all the bus stations we have seen so far in Amelia’s little moleskin notebook. Finally got on the bus and rode the 7 hours north to San Sebastian to meet Alyssa.