Salamanca: Plaza Mayor, Casa de las Conchas, Salamanca Cathedral, lunch at Café Real, hornazo to go from Confitería Santa Lucía
Porto: Praça da Ribeira, dinner at Adega São Nicolau. Night at Hotel Eurostars Das Artes.
Drive: Approximately 560 km (348 miles) - 5 hours 30 minutes.
Salamanca:
Salamanca is an ancient university town in the Castile and Leon autonomous region of Spain known for its ornate sandstone architecture. It has been ruled by Celts, Romans, Muslims, and Spanish, and contains Romanesque, Gothic, Moorish, Renaissance and Baroque monuments. The Salamanca University is one of the oldest universities in Europe. We made a stop here on the way to Portugal.
We parked on the street in the residential area, paid the parking meter, and walked to the city center. This is Plaza Mayor. Salamanca, Spain.
The streets in the old city of Salamanca around the university. Salamanca, Spain.
Casa de las Conchas or House of Shells. It was built by Rodrigo Arias de Maldonado, a knight of the Order of Santiago de Compostela, in the 1500's. There are over 300 shells. The shells symbolize the Order of Santiago and the building is in the Gothic style. It currently houses a public library. Salamanca, Spain.
Salamanca Cathedral. It was built between the 15th to 17th century and contains late Gothic and Baroque styles. Salamanca, Spain.
Before leaving Salamanca to make our way to Portugal, we ate lunch at Café Real, located in Plaza Mayor. Coffee, bocadillo de calamares, and a sandwich completo, vegetal y mixto (vegetable, ham, and cheese sandwich)(not shown). Salamanca, Spain.
On our way out, to eat in the car, we bought a hornazo from Confitería Santa Lucía, also located in Plaza Real. Hornazo is a Spanish meat pie eaten in the provinces of Salamanca and Avila. It is filled with pork loin, spicy chorizo, and egg. Salamanca, Spain.
Porto:
It's about 350 km (218 miles) from Salamanca to Porto, approximately a 3 hour 30 minute drive. We drove through Vilar Formoso at the border of Spain and Portugal, to get to Porto. When you enter Portugal, you need to make sure you buy a pass for the electronic tolls. These electronic tolls are unmanned and you can easily pass through one without knowing you did and get fined. To get a pass, you can either sign up for the EASYToll system, which links your car license plate to your credit card, or buy a prepaid ticket for unlimited use for 3 days through their online website. There are other options listed on their website, but I think these two were the most appropriate for our purposes. We did the EASYToll system. About 5 km after you cross the border, there is a small kiosk off the highway which allows you to sign up. The pass will last 30 days or you can cancel it earlier via their website. Just keep your ticket as proof.
We checked into our hotel, Hotel Eurostars Das Artes, and then walked down the winding cobbled streets down to Praça da Ribeira. This is the view across the river Douro from Praça da Ribeira. Porto is the 2nd largest city in Portugal. This ended up being my favorite city from our trip. Porto, Portugal.
The boats on Rio Douro and the sun setting behind the buildings. Praça da Ribeira, Porto, Portugal.
View of the Luis I Bridge. Praça da Ribeira, Porto, Portugal.
Just some of the many colorful buildings in Porto. Praça da Ribeira, Porto, Portugal.
We ate dinner here at Adega São Nicolau. Praça da Ribeira, Porto, Portugal.
Mantiega/Bolinho de bacalhau (codfish ball/croquette), Bacalhau A Lagareiro (codfish with potatoes), Polvo A Lagareiro (octopus and rice), Molusco (clams). Adega São Nicolau, Porto, Portugal.
The view from Praça da Ribeira after dinner. Porto, Portugal.
