Extremadura Excursion

Old and new cathedrals, side by side

The plan today was to see the inside of places we saw the outside of yesterday. Our first stop was the cathedral or, I should say, cathedrals. The old and new cathedrals are all one in Salamanca - they are connected through a doorway; with great wisdom, the medieval men who decided to erect a new cathedral in this city preserved the old one. We should be eternally grateful, since the old building has a great many treasures, as many as the new.

One of the world's oldest organs in Catedral Viejo

Chirrigueresque alterpiece in Catedral Nueva

Truly, the Salamanca Cathedrals are awesome, in the true sense of that overused word; we wanted to see another church this morning, but we did not want to rush these two. There were so many unique and special features to see that it took us an hour to tour the two churches. We were provided with an audio guide in English to help us understand what we were seeing. For instance, I learned that the Catedral Viejo, in particular, was the site of the students' studies. They sat their exams there.

Looking up in Catedral Nueva

Large chapel in Catedral Viejo

By noon, we were back on the road, visiting other towns in this province of Extremadura. We headed to Bejar, a small town south of Salamanca. On the way in, we stopped at an old convent, now an art gallery. Then we arrived at its charming old square, a Plaza Major, which we enjoyed very much. We visited the church, took pictures of the Ducal Palace and walked to the Teatro Cervantes nearby, all lovely buildings. For the second day in a row, we had a leisurely tapas lunch at Casa Pavon on the Plaza Mayor.

Relaxing over tapas in Bejar

Plaza Major in Bejar

Our next stop was Plasencia, further down the same road. Its central area is partially contained within walls. Like Salamanca, it has a Catedral Viejo and Catedral Nueva, but the old church was closed to visitors. Although it had several notable buildings, many of them were closed when we were there (at 4:00 in the afternoon), so we just walked around for a while.  Before we left town, however, we saw the Catedral Nuevo, which opened at 5:00.

Town wall in Plasencia

Clock in Plaza Major - Plasencia

By 5:30, we were on our way to Caceres, our destination. The town demons tried to thwart our stay here, but so far they have not succeeded. Still, we had several challenges getting to our hotel today. Firstly, we could not drive into town on the route suggested since that street was under construction, so we parked our car a distance away and walked to the hotel, Casa Don Fernando, in order to get advice on where to park. Map in hand, we decided to explore the historical area first, before we returned to the car. We got some great pictures in the evening light, and saw two weddings in the old town.

Plaza Major in Caceres. Our hotel is on this square.

Steps leading to the old town in Caceres

When we arrived at our car, it and the others around it had been separated from the thoroughfare by plastic tape (not police tape, but like it). We did not know why this happened.

I had to hold the tape up in the air while Bob backed out of the parking spot. The tape got caught on the antenna and a side mirror but we managed to slide under it without breaking it and found our way to the parking lot near the hotel without further incident. I wish we had had the presence of mind to take a picture, because in hindsight, it was pretty funny. Good thing Miguel is little! Many of the other cars similarly trapped will be hard pressed to escape. And what do drivers do who have no one to hold the tape for them?

Back at the hotel, we were ready to get on the Internet, but the WiFi did not work. It has been spotty all evening, a stressful occurrence for this blogger.

Plaza major at night. 

For dinner, we had tapas once again, at a spot just around the corner from the Plaza Major - Taperia Restaurante 8 Arte. I am pleased to say that we have not repeated a single tapas dish these past two days. Tonight, the menu was in Spanish, so after we ordered two items, we asked the waiter to suggest two more. They were very good, although the service was poor.

The Plaza Major is very vibrant this Saturday night. I have my trusty earplugs, should the partying go on into the wee hours of the morning.