Salamanca

 At last, a good eight hours of sleep, up and about at seven for early breakfast and departure at eight fifteen. Clare decided to have a quiet day on the ship, not just because of all the walking in the heat of Salamanca, but the total of three and a half hours coach journey there and back. The first twenty minutes of the drive is the ascent to the Castilian plain, sometimes rolling, sometimes flat, few villages, pale yellow grassland dotted with dark green trees, mostly standing on their own. Perhaps they are managed like that, as there's less chance of fire spreading from one to another. From a distance they resemble the rounded trees drawn by young children, an unusual landscape. 

A great deal of grain is grown here in fields of immense fields. The sight of bales of straw indicates the grain harvest has already taken place. There was just one area of a couple of kilometres square which was black and scorched, the trees look as if they were little affected. Tree canopies are mostly rounded, except above the ground where they're flat. I wonder if it's something to do with cattle grazing beneath them taking shelter from the sun, and grazing above their heads?

We reached Salamanca's city centre just before ten. Rather than join the guided tour, I made straight for the Cathedral hoping to attend Mass. I heard the Angelus being rung at a distance - it's midday in Spain on Central European Time, unlike Portugal which is in the same time zone as the UK. I didn't need to pay the tourist entry fee, I just asked in Spanish if I could attend Mass and was let in. The liturgy of the Word had just started and I was able to follow, having already checked out the readings in the Anglican lectionary, which is more or less the same. Much of the sermon I understood too, about getting through tough times supported by faith in Christ, with side references to Assumption of Mary, whose fiesta was Friday last. A small girls choir sang the responsorial Psalm, Alleluia, Sanctus and Agnus Dei. At the end of Mass the Salve Regina was sung, and the image of Maria Assunta, up behind the altar was solemnly censed - a nice touch I thought. At a guess, a couple of hundred communicants. Instead of a collection bag being passed around at the Offertory, people were invited to go up to the altar and drop their dineros on a plate at the altar steps. Another nice touch. In fact the whole celebration made my day a pilgrimage more than a tourism experience.

Our tour group met outside the Cathedral to be guided to the Casino for lunch. It was once a nobleman's town house, then a gambling joint and finally taken on by the municipality and used as a banqueting hall and social function venue. About seventy metres square with a minstrels 'gallery surrounding it, enough room for two hundred to eat at tables seating ten. We queued for an assortment of tapas, but were then served a soup, followed by a portion of slow cooked belly pork with mashed potatoes. Ice cream with portion of unidentifiable sweet tart to finish, and a choice of three very nice wines to try. 

Then a hour's free time to wander and take photos of the city centre's magnificent collegiate buildings and chapels. This place is the Spanish equivalent of Oxford or Cambridge, almost as old, whose significance grew hugely when it became the educational centre for religious orders with a missionary interest. In the heat of the afternoon at 40C most places were shut and few residents were out and about. With the Cathedral as our meeting point for departure to the coaches, I returned early and rested in the shade before the hour and three quarter return journey. The ship had moved from the Spanish quay at Vega de Terron to the Portuguese quay half a mile away across the border at Barca d'Alva, this being the turnaround point for our Douro voyage.

Once we were back at the ship I began to feel nauseous, and a couple of hours later, I parted company with the remains of lunch. Not food poisoning thankfully, but a reaction to more dairy fats in what I'd eaten, perhaps the pudding, or the mashed potato. After that I was truly exhausted, skipped supper and went to bed to recover.