SALAMANCA, SPAIN: Tasty Gluten-free Travel
Some of the sites in the old city were the Old and New Cathedrals, which are built right next to each other. If you look closely at the cathedral door, you’ll find a hidden astronaut carved among medieval figures.
The Plaza Mayor is a beautiful sight at night, with plenty of restaurants and shops to keep you entertained for hours. Salamanca is also home to the University of Salamanca, the oldest active university in Spain, founded in 1218.
At night, student musical groups from the university called Tunas perform in Renaissance-era outfits in the Plaza. Legend has it that Christopher Columbus came to the university seeking advice before setting sail.
We stayed at the Hotel Hospes Palacio de San Esteban Salamanca, a former convent with a gorgeous lawn and pool overlooking the ancient city. It was a perfect spot to relax after a day of sightseeing.
Roman bridge built around 79 BCE
Other highlights included walking across the Roman bridge and visiting the Spanish Civil War Museum. We never quite made it through Hemingway’s books on the war, but the museum answered a lot of questions—and gave us some surprises. There was a heavy crackdown on the Freemasons during the Civil War, and it turns out they were almost as despised as the Communists. Our guide in Madrid mentioned that schools often skip over the Civil War and the Franco era in their curriculum.
Unlike what we think of as a tortilla, the Spanish tortilla is gluten-free.
We ate at several cafes in the Plaza Mayor, where gluten-free bread was always available. One evening found us strolling in the Plaza past a display of jamon (more ham in Spain!) and me enjoying a Spanish tortilla (what we would call an egg and potato omelet) as well as a roasted vegetable stack at Corte & Cata. Yum!
One restaurant, set among Roman ruins (Hotel San Polo Salamanca), left me with ceviche and nothing to dip it with as they didn’t have a gluten-free option. Many of the European restaurants will give a detailed key to what is in the food, but not all of them will have a gluten-free substitute. Oh well, that’s travel!
