the salamanca sassies.

my health is finally back. here i am. alive. well. and happier than ever. 

what a weekend it was. man. we had no idea what we were in for when we loaded that big bus on thursday morning. sure, salamanca would be beautiful, but just how stunning the trip would actually be was unbeknownst to me. 

first things first... cáceres. 

where cj studied for a semester during college. and of course when i aksed him what i needed to see there his response included tracking down the best smell in the world. of course. 

look for "pintores" street. i can't describe what it smells like. it's a combination of everything good you can imagine. you have to find it. 

our senses were heightened, waiting to have this scent dance within us. in the two hours that we were there, erin, emily and i found the street and paid a bit of necessary homage to my dear brother. 

 

we worked our way up to salamanca. precious precious salamanca. the place is stunning. it is the ann arbor of spain (thusfar), the hip college town tucked away in castilla. finally we were able to feel crisp air, see fall leaves, need to wear coats and walk with coffee in hand. fall is a drug and i need my fill. we were able to all be together, to live as if life were normal again. we fell in love in salamanca. 

during the day, the city is full of history. how does it feel to be walking amidst thousands of years of history? to look that in the eye? to touch that? man. 

i walked through rich religious ruins, i found the frog on the head of the skull, i looked down the ancient well, reveled in the university, tripped on cobblestones, got my nose ring ripped out (oh, i guess that is not such a pleasant memory of such a pleasant city, although a funny one it certainly is...builds character.....), marveled at what the city had to offer. i soaked it up. 

        

but the thing is...just wait until you see the city at night. it is absolutely stunning. the night life is amazing. the "going out" night life is the city's pulse and reigns strongest between three am and sunrise. talk about a drink special: any shot at the chupitería is one euro. but the calm night life? now that is astounding as well. 

and really, walking around with dear friends and hot coffee after a meal of freshly made pasta and a damn good house wine? could it get better? 

i found my history of evolution in salamanca. i am convinced that spanish is in fact part of the debruyn blood. you cannot convince me otherwise. they saw it coming. 

and after two nights of sleepovers. two nights of pushing three beds together to make one big one. of finding a built-in radio in the wall that plays spanish and english pop. of finishing the ration of gin and tonic. of dancing ourselves silly. of flooding the bathroom. of making good new friends. of filling ourselves with the culture of salamanca, we hit the road once again and stopped for a night in mérida--a slightly disappointing pitstop of an appointing trip. 

the two highlights? vampires on tv and roman ruins. 

and now we are back. back in cádiz. home again. back to sweating and schooling. with the memories of a place that i hope to one day reside. yes. it was that great.