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Updated photos and pictures about Salamanca, the latest events in the school, the students, their trips and the activities!

 

The sweet taste of “Chocolate con churros”.

Friday, October 9th, 2009
Evelin loves churros, isn't it?

Evelin loves churros, isn't it?

I am sure that during your stay in Spain you have heard about “chocolate con churros”.Most of you have experienced the crunchy taste of “churros” tipped in a hot chocolate.But why is “chocolate con churros” that populare in Spain?

The tradition of eating “churros” started way back in XIX century, in Madrid. The most important reason why “churros” spreaded all over the Spain was the low cost and the huge amount of energy that was perfect for the workers to start a hard day full of physical work. In that time “chocolate con churros” was called as the fruit of the pan.

There are many different ways to eat ” churros” . You can tip it inside your coffee or if you want to experience more extreme taste you can try tipping it into cognac or anis. But the most popular way of eating “churros” has allways been with hot chocolate.The perfect way to serve out “chocolate con churros” is to serve it in a porcelaine cup full of resent made chocolate. The chocolate is served out with six to eight “churros”, including a class of water and sugar in case of somebody wants to have a sweeter beginning for the day.You can eat “churros” while they are still hot or you can eat them cold, it does not matter, they will maintain the crunchy taste. It is common that hot “churros” are served in north Spain and cold “churros” in south Spain.

The place where you can eat “churros” is named Churreria . Usually it is a place where tables and the floor

Serving churros to the students

Serving churros to the students

are decorated with marmol.Also there are “Churrerias” that offers you a take away service.The opening time of the Churrerias is usually at 5 or 6 am.Why so early? So that the workers could have a decent breakfast before starting a hard day. Nowadays the costume has changed a little bit, in the early hours “Churrerias” are also visited by young people that have just finished partying and are looking for a memorable way to end a night out with their friends.Also “Churros” are served in a normal terrace or a coffee place. So that whenever you get hungry for a cup of chocolate with churros you can enter to a first coffee place, that gets on your way, without looking for a “Churreria”. Also you may see booths on the streets that offers you “churros” with various size, shape and taste, so you do not even have to look for it, just follow the warm flavor of “Churros” mixed with a sweet smell of Chocolate.

The students enjoying their Spanish breakfast.

The students enjoying their Spanish breakfast.

It is known that Spanish people love to communicate . Many of the times the reunions are accompanied with “Chocolate con churros”. What could be better than enjoying a cup of hot chocolate with”churros” while telling stories to your friends, shatting with your nabours, or sharing your concerns with your parents. Eating “Chocolate con churros” is not only a way to aliment yourself it is also a good way to communicate with people and to brighten up your day whenever you feel blue.

Tapas in Salamanca

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

For the last few weeks we’ve had with us 2 American girls, Kendall and Katie helping in the office.

They’ve been doing a research about Medical Spanish us and as well as taking a Spanish Language Course with us they’ve enjoyed most of our cultural activities. Kendall and Katie are from South Carolina and stayed in Spain for four weeks.

Travel and education Group

Travel and education Group

Tasting "jeta"

Tasting "jeta"

Group Picture

Group Picture

The girls studied Spanish and enjoyed the life and culture in Salamanca, taking part in the cultural activities like the Tapas trips that we organise! The Tapas Tour start with everyone meeting at the school and going by 3 or 4 local bars to try some of the best local tapas! The food is some of the best local food on offer and is a great way to try Salamanca specialities! You can read more about the Tapas in Spain on our other posts on the Spanish Language Blog.

We offer the Tapas trips to all of our students, not only those in Salamanca with us but also in Granada and Seville. The trips normally run on Mondays or Tuesday, but check out the latest issue of the School Newsletter for more information and sign up at reception so that we don’t leave without you!

Antique Photos of Salamanca

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

Salamanca hasn’t always been a modern city and was always a typical beautiful Spanish city!!

We have some old photos of Salamanca for you to see how it was hundreds of years ago, interesting for those of you who know the city and those who don’t too!

Salamanca as seen from across the Río Tormes

Salamanca as seen from across the Río Tormes

This picture shows the city in black and white as seen across the River Tormes abut 100 years ago! The view hasn’t changed too much as the Cathedral has stayed the same! The big difference is that the new bridge crossing the River still isn’t bult!

The Plaza de Toros

The Plaza de Toros

In this photo you can see the Plaza de los Toros, the Bullring in Salamanca, that’s still there today. There are still bullfights in the Plaza, although not as many as before! Well worth a visit to the building, even if you don’t watch a fight. It’s about 15 minutes walking from the Main Sqaure, pretty close to the centre.

Plaza Colón

Plaza Colón

The Plaza de Colón is a small square on the road Calle San Pablo leading away from the Main Square down towards the river. The square is named after Christopher Columbus, Cristobel Colón, who has a statue there in the square! The square is still fairly green and very pretty, the perfect place to have a break when wandering around Salamanca!!

The Patio de Las Escuelas is a square in front of the Famous University Facade

Patio de Escuelas

Patio de Escuelas

with the frog! The buildings around the square are all the main important buildings of the University of Salamanca where all the main offices are, the classes for Courses for International Students that the University offers!! It’s right in the centre by the Cathedral. The statue in the middle still stands, but without the railings around it. The doorway right at the back on the left, the smaller doorway in the corner, leads to a beautiful green patio of the University. All around there are museums for you to find out about the University and the history of Salamanca.

Salamanca from across the River

Salamanca from across the River

The city can be seen here from across the river like in the first photo. Even when they invented cars the normal people of Salamanca were still going around on donkeys, “burros”!!

For more modern pictures of Salamanca you can have a look at our new photo gallery on the Spanish Language School website, have a look and compare how the city was and how it is today!

Dutch Trip

Monday, May 25th, 2009

This week another group of 24 Dutch students came to Salamanca to study Spanish with us! They spent all week here in Salamanca taking part in our cultural program and practising everything they’d learnt whilst making the most of their Spanish Language Lessons in the mornings!

Starting their Spanish Language Classes on Monday

Starting their Spanish Language Classes on Monday

The group have made a blog, in Dutch!, about their stay with us that you can check out via the links.

On the Monday, their first full day in Salamanca when they arrived they dived right in to their classes, followed by lunch with the host family and then a guided tour of Salamanca in the afternoon! Elisa showed them around, starting in the Plaza Mayor and gave them a little history of the city whilst showing them the main sights; Plaza Mayor, Cathedral, Casa de las Conchas, The University etc! They even went down to the River Tormes to see the statue from Lazarillo de Tormes and crossed the Roman Bridge. In the evening the group joined in the welcome party with all the students! The students went on a guided tour but there was also going on loads of other activites for them in the school, all part of the cultural program and on offer to all students!

On the Tuesday the weather was great and the Dutch group started with Chocolate and Churros in class to cheer up the morning! In the afternoon the group took a Tapas trip to try some of the local Tapas, starting with Asturian Cider by the Square! The stopped at a few more bars and tried the famous Ham, Jamón, of the region, a local delicacy! You can check out photos of their Tuesday on their Group Trip Blog. This afternoon we also showed a Spanish Film to practise a bit more of listening for anyone that wanted.

Enjoying Chocolate and Churros

Enjoying Chocolate and Churros

On Wednesday they had loads of activities going on. The morning was a tough set of classes again, so in the afternoon to relax the group enjoyed a Cookery class to learn how to make some of the Tapas they tried on Tuesday, followed by a Sevillanas Dance Class!! The group was too big to do everything at once so they split into 2 groups and did each activity in their groups. In the evening some of the group ended up singing Karaoke! You can check out photos of this, and hopefully soon a video, on their blog entry for Wednesday.

By Thursday the group commented that they’d really noticed an improvement in their Spanish. Trying to relax after so much work a lot of the students went to have fun in one of the many parks in Salamanca, relax a bit and take in some sun! Instead of wandering around the old building of the University they preferred to enjoy the sun, and those that wanted were welcome to a Cultural Conference in the school. In the evening lots of the students went to see Salamanca by night as it’s beautiful and lit up, especially the Cathedral and the Square, and also it’s nice and refreshing after having been in the sun all day!

The group with their certificates at the end of their course!

The group with their certificates at the end of their course!

On Friday the group went to visit the Cathedral, where you can walk up and outside and have great views of the city and the river! The Cathedral of Salamanca is really mad eup of 2, an old one and the new one! In the evening the group enjoyed a typical Spanish Meal as a way of saying goodbye to the city and having one last event all together before going home!

We offer group trips in all 3 cities, Granada, Seville and Salamanca, and we can organise the perfect program according to your requirements! Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us regarding your trip, there’s also more information about the Group Trip Programs on our website.

Dutch Spanish-Language Group Trip to Salamanca

Saturday, May 16th, 2009

Last week a Dutch group of Spanish Language Students came to spend a week in Salamanca improving their Spanish and visiting the city with their Spanish teacher Marianne from Holland.

Dutch Spanish Group enjoying Chocolate and Churros

Dutch Spanish Group enjoying Chocolate and Churros

The group studied all together for a week in our Salamanca school improving their Spanish and exploring the city. They started the week on Monday with a guided trip around Salamanca to see the main sights, including the Cathedral, the Library and the Frog! They started at the school in the centre of the city and took a trip across the Plaza Mayor to explore the rest of the Historic Centre with Elisa showing them around.

In the evening they took a Tapas trip around the city to try some of the best typical local foods on offer! The following morning they even tried the Chocolate and Churros after their morning lesson to cheer up the start of the day! They even enjoyed a Salsa Class to get a feel for the Spanish culture!

Their Spanish really improved and the group had a fantastic time discovering Castille and Leon and really got on with their teachers here at the school, so much so that they went out for a meal all together on Thursday night with their teacher Belén! The group were only here for a short time but got to see most of the important sights of Salamanca, and have made an online album of their photos which you can see by following this link: Photo Album

The Group at the end of their Spanish Course!

The Group at the end of their Spanish Course!

With our group programs you can take advantage of our language courses and cultural program on offer or make up a personalised trip for your group, in either Salamanca, Seville or Granada. Get in touch with us regarding any type of trip and we’ll make it work! There’s more information on our webpage about all of our courses and specifically about group programs too!