Adventures in Spanish 2013: The Rain in Spain falls.........

According to the musical by Lerner & Loewe and the 1964 film My Fair Lady, the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain. After 10 days in Spain, I can say that the rain in Spain falls mainly..... everywhere!

Much of Spain has had constant heavy rainfall for some time and I can vouch that since I arrived in Salamanca, it has been raining quite frequently. I have been watching the noticias (news) each day with considerable interest as there has been reports of significant flooding across Spain but mostly in the north and in Granada. The constant rain had a big impact on the Semana Santa Celebrations as well, with tourism down and many of the, mostly, night time processions either cancelled, shortened or taking place in a modified way indoors. The only sunny strip appears to have been on the east coast around Valencia, but even they have had some rain. At the moment, this looks set to continue for some time. All the Spaniards (and probably most of the tourists) are praying for the sun to return!!

The good news for me is that yesterday dawned cool and cloudy but sunny. This enabled me to get out and explore a bit more and not get wet! When it's only 4 degrees, not getting wet is a wonderful thing. Although most of the buildings are heated (unbearably so at times), there is generally no shelter (awnings, roof overhangs etc) on the outside so if it's raining, you get wet unless you have waterproof clothing, a hat or an umbrella. The wind makes an umbrella a tricky thing to operate and whilst I have a waterproof coat, it's too cold to wear it alone so need my wool coat (which doesn't fit underneath the waterproof). Apart from that, I'm not overly fond of cold, wet feet!! I really don't feel like donning all my serious walking gear just to get around town. Would look a little curious to the locals I think.

Mostly I have just been walking around getting my bearings and seeing what I can in my wanderings. I found the Casa de Las Conchas (now a public library). It was built from 1493 to 1517 by a knight of the Order of Santiago de Compostela who was also a professor in the University of Salamanca. The façade is covered in shells. I also found the Puente Romana (Roman Bridge) which leads to a lovely walk along the river. Lots of birds (too small and quick to photograph) and a wonderful view of the historical area with the Cathedral being the main focus. The Cathedral makes a fantastic landmark as it dominates the skyline of old Salamanca. Even in the narrow winding streets, you can often catch a glimpse of the Cathedral spire so there is always a point of reference to return to if you feel you have become lost (old medieval towns often didn't have town planning). It's quite curious that you can try to go around the block and end up going in a completely different direction. I had a similar experience in a small medieval town in Germany where I swear you could go in a circle and end up in a different part of town nowhere near where you started and unable to find you way back!