Extracurricular activities 28.09.2015 - 2.10.2015

One more week, here are the activities we have prepared for you to have fun and keep practising your Spanish outside the classroom. 

Monday 28, 4:00 pm: Film – Enjoy a great film in Spanish. 

Approximate duration: 2 h.

Tuesday 29, 5:30 pm: Quiz – Show what you know (and learn some more) about Spanish and Latin American culture in this workshop with teacher Beatriz.

Approximate duration: 1 h

Wednesday 30, 6:20 pm: Chocolate con churros – Your Spanish experience isn't complete if you don't try this delicious snack.

Approximate duration: 1 h

Thursday 24, 4:30 pm: Plaza Mayor – Discover all the secrets of Plaza Mayor with a game of questions and challenges.

Approximate duration: 1 h

Friday 25, 7:30 pm: Tapas tour – How many tapas have you already tried? Well, here's your chance to try some more and enjoy really nice conversations.

Duración aproximada: 1 h

Saturday 26 and Sunday 27: Excursions – Please ask at the reception desk for more information.

Please don't forget that you need to sign up for each activity at the reception desk (in order to reserve your place). The minimum number of participants required fro each activity is usually three. Also, unless otherwise stated, the meeting point is Tía Tula school. Lastly, if there's no price mentioned in the description, the activity is free of charge. 

Try to participate in as many activities as you can; they are designed not just for you to have fun, but also to improve your knowledge of Salamanca and Spanish culture, and to put into practice the Spanish you have learnt in class. 

Pinchos and Tapas: the Spanish taste

Spanish people love going to tapear, one of the most common activity in Spain and well known all over the world. Just for few euros you can have tapas or pinchos, little portions served with a caña of beer or a glass of wine.

Their name originated from a curious custom. Tapas are so named because they used to literally plug (spanish: tapar) glasses of beer or wine with a piece of bread and a slice of ham. In this way they avoided that dust or flies dropped in the glasses. While pinchos are so named because they are served thrusted (spanish: pinchados) by a stick and are very common in the north of Spain.

But where can we taste some of these little but precious dishes in Salamanca? Follow this short guide to know 5 places to eat well and save money ;)

Getting started from the centre, you can really eat in Plaza Mayor at Café Real, where you can have the Salamanca typical tapas without spend a fortune.

One of the cheapest place is 100 Montaditos, in Calle Concejo nearby Plaza Mayor. On mondays there is a special offer so that you can have everything you want just for 0,50€.

Tiempo de Vinos, in Calle Doctrinos, a short step from Calle Compañia, deserve you stop off here in order to sip an excellent wine combined with tradicional tapas and jamón serrano, a typical kind of Spanish ham. So good!

Turning a corner in Rúa Mayor you can go to Tapas 2.0, whose name says everything. Here tradition and modernity are combined in a successful way. Maybe less cheap than other places in this list, but you should really try it for the quality of its dishes and their original look. 

Lizarran, in Gran Vía, is known for its unusual style. You just have to take a drink and then get something from a variety of just done tapas and pinchos which waiters bring from the kitchen. Then you pay just depending on how many sticks you collected and their dimensions, so you eat whatever you want with a fixed price.

And if you don't still have enough to eat and want to try something good, the Van Dyck area is what you are looking for.

¡Que aproveche!

Ester - student at Tía Tula

Activities 16.03.2015 - 21.03.2015

This week we have organised activities for every taste. Check them out and sign up for those you don't want to miss.

Monday 16, 6:50 pm: Conversation workshop – A great opportunity to improve your Spanish speaking skills while you have fun. With teacher Cristina. Approximate duration: 1 h.

Tuesday 17, 5:45 pm: Indoor swimming pool – Let's take a deep in the indoor swimming pool at La Alamedilla. Don't forget to bring your swimsuit, swimming cap, flip flops and towel. Approximate duration: 1 h 30 min.

Wednesday 18, 6:00 pm: Plaza Mayor – Come learn about the history of Plaza Mayor. Approximate duration. 40 min.

Thursday 19, 7:45 pm: Microtheatre – We love the microtheatre plays that show in
La Malhablada.We'll go see one today. Approximate duration: 30 min.
A different option: go on a trip to Valencia's Fallas. Further information at the reception desk.

Friday 20, 4:30: Film – Watching films in Spanish is a great way to improve your language skills. Join us for one today.

Saturday 21: Excursions – Segovia, Ávila, Oporto... Check out the destinations available at the reception desk and start planning your weekend trip. Don't forget to sign up by Wednesday.

Please don't forget that you need to sign up for each activity at the reception desk (to reserve your place, the minimum number of participants required is usually three). Also, unless stated otherwise, the meeting point is always the same, Tía Tula school. Lastly, if there's no price mentioned with the activity, it means it is for free.

And don't hesitate to participate in as many activities as you can; they are designed not just for you to have fun (that is guaranteed) but also to improve your knowledge of Salamanca and Spanish culture, and to put into practice the Spanish you learn in class.

Book Lovers, your time has come!

For someone who enjoys reading and/or loves old books, there is nothing better than a book fair and right now, one is happening in Salamanca under the official name of ‘XXII Feria Municipal del Libro Antiguo y de Ocasión’, or, in English, ‘The 22nd Municipal Fair of Old and Used Books’. 



The feria takes place on Plaza Mayor from October 25th until November 9th and the ‘opening hours’ are as follows: Monday to Friday from 11:00 to 14:00 and then from 17:30 to 21:00; and on Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 to 14:30 and then from 17:30 till 21:30. 24 bookstores from all over Spain come to Salamanca to sell their books and you can see stands all the way from Alicante, Granada and Santander as well as some from more nearby such as Burgos, León, Madrid, Salamanca, Segovia, Valladolid and Zamora. 



However, the feria isn’t ‘just’ about books, these 2 weeks are filled with 29 activities where the books are always in the centre of attention. Everybody can take their pick when it comes to the activities, there are lectures for the more serious among us as well as concerts for the ones who enjoy music and we cannot forget the little ones – for them there will be storytellers who can fly them from Salamanca to other wonderful places and spark their interest in stories and books. 

Whether you like old (I mean antique) books or simply want a new book and don’t mind it being second hand, then you definitely need to have a look at this fair. I love reading so naturally I had to visit the feria and I was very (pleasantly) surprised by the amount of choice, and the amount of languages – there were a lot of Spanish books, of course, but also books in English, German, Portuguese, Italian, French and other languages. 

I left the feria with a bag full of books for myself (in English and some children’s books in Spanish) and a few Christmas presents for my German friends. However, please beware, you should not go there if you are in a hurry because you will be late. As my friend said, getting lost in the feria of stories is not only possible, it is inevitable. 

Plaza Mayor

One of the most breathtaking sights Salamanca has to offer is undoubtedly the Plaza Mayor, it's a must see for anyone visiting Salamanca, and is incredible both by day and by night. I thought I would write a little bit about the history of the square and about its uses in the modern day.

The construction of the Plaza Mayor was ordered by king Filipe V and began in 1729. The square was designed by the Churriguera family, famous for their baroque style architecture which can be seen in many cities throughout spain,  and was first overseen by Alberto Churriguera between 1729-35. Then with the second phase of building came Alberto's nephew Manuel de Larra between 1750-1755. The City Hall was also added in 1755 by Andrés Garcia de Quiñones. Similar to many buildings in Salamanca, the square was built in sandstone. Due to this Salamanca has been nicknamed 'the golden city' due to the golden hue many of the buildings give off when hit by the sunlight, and when lit up by the nigh time lights.

The Plaza is an irregular square, designed this way on purpose out of respect for the church of San Martín. None of its facades have the same height, though each side has three floors aside from the main facade. The Plaza has six entrances leading off to different streets in the city, and has a clock tower on the main facade which in the original design was supposed to have two towers either side of it. However due to fears that the building would not support the weight of these towers the plans were shelved. The city hall is also located within this main facade, and on its face you can see medallions of famous Spanish people, such as Charles I, Cervantes and St. Teresa.  Surrounding the plaza are some 88 arches and more than 200 balconies, which are now home to hotels and private residences.

The Plaza was originally used for bullfighting, and continued to host bullfights for a 100 years after the plaza was built before the more popular circular bullrings came to Spain. It has been a meeting place for people of the city for many years, and when the city's commerce was based around the trade of farm animals and produce people used to meet in the Plaza to sell their goods. Nowadays the Plaza is still a very popular meeting place for people of Salamanca. It is lined with cafés, bars, restaurants and shops and often hosts live concerts. One café that is worth a visit is the 'Café Novelty' as it has been in the same place in the Plaza Mayor for over 100 years and has some of the best ice creams in the city on offer! From the 8th to the 15th of September Salamanca holds one of its biggest festivals of the year, and during this time you can find live music, theatre acts and craft stalls filling the Plaza with people for the whole week.

So if you do come to Salamanca, make sure you come to take a look at the Plaza Mayor, why not sit and enjoy an ice cream during the day watching the world go by, or come and have a drink and sit outside at one of the many bars there, you might even catch some live music if you're lucky!

Los Reyes Magos

On the 6^th of January, in Spain the day: Three Kings is celebrated extensively. The festival starts on the 5^th of January at 19 pm, when the three kings arrive in their carriages and make their rounds through the city. During this round, they throw thousands of pounds of ' Caramelos ' sweets.

During this holiday, the biblical event is celebrated in which the three kings (Caspar , Melchior and Balthasar) saw a rising star and started looking for the king of the Jews. They reached Bethlehem and found the newborn Jesus.

The kings arrived with a gift for the newborn king (frankincense, myrrh and gold), the tradition of giving presents is kept in Spain, this day is very excited for the kids.

In addition, there is also a special cake eaten on this day, in this cake a toy is hidden. The one that affects this toy can expect a lucky year. In some cases there are other symbols hidden in the cake, such as a coin, if you´ll find this one you should provide and / or pay the evening meal.

The 5^th of January in the evening I went with some fellow students to Plaza Mayor, to watch the arrival of the Three Kings. The whole square was full of children who were anxiously waiting for the three heroes. We all managed to catch a ' caramelo ' , which according to some people also represents a period of happiness. We continued the party in some of the many bars of Salamanca .