Salamanca Local Customs

A typical Spanish custom is the two-cheek kisses, specially when a man meets a woman though women also kiss each other. On the other hand men shake hands or embrace if they know each other. In Spain people don't keep the distance when they meet or talk, people are warmer than in other places and physical contact is very common.
In addition to this, people talk to each other while having a drink or in the street, even if they do not each other. To have a drink in a pub is a good chance of meeting people and the Plaza Mayor of Salamanca is the best place to do it.

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The university of Salamanca is well-known all over the world, every year thousands of Spanish and foreign students go there to study. The architecture of the University is really impressive, its style is Plateresco, typical from Spain, apart from this, the university of Salamanca, which was founded by the king Alfonso X el sabio, has a legend which can be true.
In one of the true pillars, in the right pillar, there is a skull which contains a frog over its head. The legend says that the student who finds the frog, will pass the exams, and if you are not a student, you have to ask for good intentions and they will come true. When I saw the frog I asked for good intentions and I hope they will come true.

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The most romantic thing I have ever seen is 'Los tunos'. It is a group of men, most of them studying at the University of Salamanca or at the Universidad Pontificia, who sing in the Plaza Mayor every night. They sing songs for women and they do it very well, in addition to this, los tunos, are very nice and friendly, this is why I highly recommend everyone going to Salamanca to see los tunos sing in the Plaza Mayor.
The best tunos are those who belong to the Facultad de Medicina.

After having tapas - or just when you're in the need for something sweet I would highly recommend Churros con chocolate! It's a dough - something between pancake and waffle - formed as "fingers". At the side you get a small cup of really thick hot chocolate that you have to use as dip for the churros - it's sooo good! Slurp!

Of course everyone (more or less...!) knows this fantastic Spanish invention, but don't miss the tapas when you're in Spain! At Plaza Mayor - on the first floor (unfortunately I don't know the name...) there's a fantastic tapas bar - and it's really authentic - me and my compagnions were some of the very few tourists. And I loved it! There was a LOT of noise - yelling and screaming and laughing - we were standing up eating our tapas just looking with teacup size eyes - great! :-)

Did I mention that the tapas were really tasty...?

The Spanish love to start their day with a handful of "Churros" - fried batter sticks, and a cup of thick hot chocolate in which to dip them. Students love them to round off their nights out, first thing in the morning while other more mature people can use them as a sugar hit first thing in the morning. The best cafe serving them is on the street halfway between the Plaza Mayor and the Cathedrals, also an excellent site to people watch first thing in the morning.

A frog hides on the façade of the university. Locals say that if you can see it by yourself, this will bring you a lot of good luck.
Of course, being half-blind from an eye, I didn't find it, but I photographed the column where other students said they had seen it. I hope I could find it looking at the picture, but I still haven't discovered where it hides. Well, it doesn't matter...

Salamanca is fairly well-known for their roast suckling pig (toston) their garlic soup (sopa de ajo) and their serrano ham, but I was more interested in these sweets I saw in a store window along Rua Mayor. Mmmm. I had a few cookies and they were delicious.

There are also some interesting tapas here such as Patatas meneadas, which are potatoes with paprika and bacon). When locals go out for tapas, they simply say, "ir de pinchos" or "salir de pinchos" (to go or to leave for snacks).