When you are this close to Spain, of course one must go and explore it a bit. Luckily our cruise director thought of this as well. He’s a pretty smart guy. It is a two hour bus ride into the city of Salamanca, a UNESCO site known as the Golden City because of all the historical sandstone buildings.

One of the oldest universities in Europe is here, and with it comes a few pretty cool traditions and stories. Two of my favourite involve frogs and blood. Along the outer walls of the university, you can see names written in what looks like red paint. Some are vibrant, some are faded, some are big, some are in capital letters, some are names I know, some are unfamiliar. But they are all there, adorning the walls like some kind of unplanned graffiti.

Graduates of a certain program (I can’t remember the exact qualifications.) get to write their name on the wall for posterity and as a badge of honour. However, they don’t use paint or dye or anything you might actually want to put on your wall. Nope. They write their name in blood. Bull’s blood mixed with oil, to be exact. I can think of other ways I might like to be honoured, but who am I to judge?

Salamanca has become known as the Golden City, sure. However, in reality, it is known as the frog city. Not because they are out hopping around everywhere – in fact I didn’t see a single one. Way back in the day, when the university was in its early years, only men were allowed to study and they had to be focused. Which meant no looking at any of the ladies. In the carving at the front door, there is a frog, which represents lust (who knew?) and it is right by a skull. Their ‘handbook’ laid it out pretty clearly: lust leads to death. Sheesh. Seems pretty dramatic.

Over the years, the meaning of the frog in the carving evolved to bringing luck to the students on their exams. It is fairly well hidden, so if you found it, you would do well. Nowadays, it is a gimmick for us tourists to find and it means we will one day make it back. Surprise, surprise, we all found it hidden in the carving – thanks to our tour guide’s laser pointer.

In the cathedral, there is also a frog covering the private area of a skeleton in a mural. Lust has no place in the church, I guess. LOL. Speaking of the cathedral, there are a few hidden gems in the carving at the front doors. It had to be repaired in the ’90s and the carvers decided to put in a few modern touches – an astronaut, a dragon eating ice cream, a lynx, a bull, a stork, a rabbit, and a crayfish. A little bit of whimsy to go along with the traditional.

You can’t have a true Spanish experience without some paella and flamenco dancing – that was also organized for us. It was a blast. I’m sure we all had visions of her dancing while we all napped on the long bus ride back to the boat.

Again…what a day! As Spirit of the West so eloquently put it, “I need home for a rest!”

PS – what designer thought this was a great design for a bathroom stall???