Sleepless in Salamanca

Puente (Spanish for long weekend) is a beautiful yet risky thing. It means 3 extra days off work, aka time for travel, but also means expensive flights, and no routine, which for me is no bueno…

Due to a lack of funding/planning I had to limit my travel to cities near Madrid, so a couple of friends and I decided on Salamanca.

Salamanca is a small city / college town about an hour north of Madrid. It has beautiful architecture and because of the large student population it is known to have great nightlife.

There was just one problem. We were booking last minute on a puente. By the time we looked, all the hostels were booked and the hotels were way over our budget.

We couldn’t miss out on the nightlife though, right? Right. So, we found the only solution, a 5:38 am train back to Madrid and a homeless adventure in Salamanca.

Friday afternoon we bundled up in preparation for a chilly & rainy day and boarded the train to Salamanca. While we were definitely unsure of our ability to party like a spaniard and stay out all night, at this point we had no choice. Upon arrival we realized the first flaw in our plan. We had NO idea what there was to do in Salamanca.

Thank God for smartphones, amiright??

After a quick google we headed towards the cathedral and explored all that Salamanca has to offer. In about three hours.

Thankfully, as ESL teachers we are excellent at passing time with games, so we spent the next three hours before dinner drinking beer and playing games like Would You Rather, Heads Up, and Never Have I Ever. As you do on vacation…

Dinner was at Cuzco Bodega, a delicious tapas restaurant near the center of the city. We met other friends here and devoured an amazing assortment of food before going on a DIY walking tour of Salamanca’s Christmas lights.

After this, we were cold and still unsure about our plans for the night. Oops. What else can you do in this situation but turn to Tinder? We found a new bar to warm up in and started swiping, eventually chatting with Aitor, our Salamanca savior.

After about five minutes of texting I decided that he probably wasn’t a serial killer and asked him where the hip and cool people go. He directed us to Daniel’S chupiteria and told us to meet him there.

Once there we went in (cover free!!!) and realized that we had entered paradise. The bar was dedicated solely to fun shots, each costing around 1 euro. Heaven.

Here I realized it would be no problem for me to stay out all night.

From here the evening was your average Friday night adventure, filled with sweaty dance floors, new friends, and doner kebab. In fact, we had so much fun that I was actually disappointed to hear our “GO TO TRAIN STATION!!!!!” alarm ring.

Around 5am we hustled back to the station and safely boarded our train. Somehow the hour long drive would be a three hour journey, but I slept the whole way and woke up in Madrid at 8:30am, feeling exhausted, but accomplished.

Two days later my body still hurts but I have to say it was definitely worth it. While I don’t see myself being this spontaneous again in the near future, I think it is safe to say that this night could have ended very differently.