The last of the Salamanca posts! Short and sweet. Things have been very Spain orientated around here lately, which is never a bad thing…but I need to make time to explore and get reacquainted with wonderful Dublin all over again.
Our last day was stereotypical of Salamanca. It was hot; like high thirties hot. We didn’t want to frazzle ourselves and plan too much before our journey back to Madrid, so we checked out, left our suitcases at reception and headed for the river to rent a paddle boat.
The Tormes river runs through Salamanca, crossed by a series of bridges but the Roman bridge (puente romano) is the most aesthetically pleasing, and the one most people use. It may not look like a whole lot from these pictures but it looks incredible at night as a golden pathway leading to the brightly lit cathedrals.
When crossing the Puente de Enrique Esteban, you’ll see white things to your right, along the bank. Congratulations, you’ve found the paddle boats! From what I can remember, the boats cost €15 to rent for an hour. That afternoon was quiet (I’ll attribute this to the aforementioned heatwave) so the guy looking after the boats let us rent one for €10. He was ridiculously nice; he helped us ladies on to the boat and had a cute little dog sidekick. He’s also bald. Look out for him.
The boat fits two people comfortably. You could bring another person who’ll have to lie on the back and be lazy and sunbathe, which is what I did for a while. €15 isn’t a bad price considering you have the option to lay about and sunbathe and have a picnic on the back. I know the Scots we knew from our time in Salamanca used to all rent boats at the same time and have floating parties.
You can go as far as the third bridge along the river which is a nice enough distance..after that, things get a little shallow and swampy.
Back on the shore we spent the last of our time basking in the heat with ice cream and tinto de verano. We said our goodbyes to our Spanish friends and promised to meet again next year.
It was a great week with great friends and it only took a mere three months to document it all!
♥ ♥ ♥