Zamora- churches, bird nests and more!

Whenever I visit a new country, I like to see the “hidden” treasures, the smaller cities and not necessarily the most visited and heard of places. Lucky for me and my friend, our roommate was staying in Zamora for 4 months, so we got to stay a week and see how life in Spain goes in a small town. The day before we arrived at her place we got to see Madrid, which was of course awesome, but I somehow missed the Spanish twist in the capital’s buildings. (Don’t get me wrong, there are amazing and loads of typically Spanish edifices, but it’s nothing compared to what you get to see in a traditional, small, not-so-modernized city). Once we got off the bus, I immediately started staring at the atmosphere, the surroundings and tried to drink it all up. I have to say that the city is beautiful. The streets and their structure is very-very aesthetic:

I loved these houses and the streetlamps!

I don’t know what they call this part of the buildings, but this is another thing that I found fascinating and attractive was this: (and the fact that the storks made their nest on them made look even more friendly):

..well this one didn’t have storks, but it did have bells!

As my previous post showed, the Cathedral is beautiful. It is considered one of the oldest Romanesque cathedrals in Spain, and I assure you it’s a sight-for-sore-eyes. If you’re there, you must see it, it’s astonishing!

me in front of the cathedral

Torre del Salvador

Spanish people are renown for their strong religious beliefs, so don’t be surprised if you bump into a church now and then. It really doesn’t matter which part of the country you are, religion is always there. Besides the grandiose Cathedral, this is another one I also liked:

San Juan de Puerta Nueva

details of San Juan

San Juan is surrounded by a square filled with cafe’s and restaurants. (don’t you dare go home without dining there at least once!) It appears I just can’t shut up about the amazing architecture of this place! Here are two more locally important buildings that are worth a few more words, and then I’ll stop with the buildings. Seriously.

Old Town Hall

and the New Town Hall

We also went to the ruins of the old fortress, and if you climb up to the tower, you can see all of Zamora from up there. It’s quite amazing and worth the climb (although not at noon like we did, because I looked like a deep-fried chicken afterwards):

Castle of Zamora

This is about it for today, you’ll have to excuse this rush-written post. I am currently in a 3-week exam time, but at the same time I’m trying to keep up with the blog too (well, where are those pre-written posts I promised myself I’d do in my winter holiday?). Anyways, just bare with me folks, I’m doin’ my best! Please enjoy Zamora and have a beautiful day! See you soon with tips on different activities you can do here.