Weekend Trip: The words hit me like a blow to the stomach. How can Suffolk University even think of taking the entire University away for the weekend when we've only been in the country, not to mention the continent, for only a few days? I thought that they were crazy, but I'm always willing to work with crazy. The ride was long but the time spent in the touring buses was rewarded by our first view of Salamanca's twin cathedrals across the river in the old town. We soon unloaded our bags into our dorm rooms at the University of Salamanca and were off on our first tour of the old center. I might be a bit biased as i favor the over luxurious look of Baroque, but i must say that i slightly favored Salamanca's Plaza Mayor, (though who can possibly beat the paintings and enormous statue in the Plaza Mayor of Madrid?). We were able to tour the twin cathedrals and even see the famous University of Salamanca wall where potential students were forced to find a small frog in a puzzle of dazzling carvings before being allowed entrance to the University. That night was one to remember. After all of the students had had their fill of shopping and dinner (and hopefully a short rest) it was time to go out. As Salamanca is a University town, it has a thriving nightlife. SU Students found new friends during lunch and dinner and so that night large groups of students made the walk from the dorms to the old center, laughing, chatting, and dancing in the streets all the way there. After a few smaller places for drinks, Club Camelot was an absolute must. It is actually inside of a working convent and so the mix of loud club music and an international clientele make it THE place for visiting students to start the night. The fun lasted until almost dawn, though i had drifted back to the dorms a few hours before then, still on US time. The party continued in a similar fashion all three nights that we were there, each night the clubs getting louder and the return home being pushed further and further into the morning hours. The two full days that we were in Salamanca we participated in two separate activates. The first was team building/ laser tag in the hills outside Salamanca. I'm not one for violence or military games but the laser tag was amazing and the team building exercises made everyone laugh as we tried to golf over fields of dirt and brush and cross ¨water¨ with people we hadn't made met before, only using bricks and one plank. The second day was horseback riding and a tour of a real bull ranch. This must have been my absolute favorite day. A few of us even tempted fate and got into the ring with a real bull to test our skills. Both days included amazing food, much of it being gluten free including the most amazing sausage and other kinds of pork as well as tortilla and chorizo at the first ranch. The trip ended with a morning tour of the rooftops of the twin cathedrals, a not to miss tour if ever in Salamanca. Overall the trip was unforgettable and helped me to concentrate myself on the semester ahead.
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