Greetings from beautiful Salamanca, Epaña! I spent all of today exploring Salamanca, a small college town three hours away from Madrid. The crown jewel of the city is the university, the oldest in Spain, deemed by Pope Alexander IV as "one of the four torches of the world." In case you get bored, this place has a 40,000 book library at the top, supposedly symbolizing the university's immortality and dedication to literature and the arts. Legend has it that if you can find the frog carved into the front of the university you will have good luck and a great marriage. Haven't found it yet, but that does look like Mr. T's skull...

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It's my second day in beautiful Toledo, España. Yesterday, I checked out some ancient cathedrals, quaint outdoor cafes, and beautiful winding cobblestone streets (you know, pretty typical day, no big deal). Then, I went to Toledo's exhibition of ancient torture devices. Yeah. So, this place features a head crusher, thumbscrews, heretic's fork, scold's bridle, chastity belt, and dozens of other torture devices from the days of the Spanish inquisition.

One of the more creative displays included an interrogation chair--a seat made entirely of iron spikes that can also be warmed up via fire underneath if the accused fails to confess. Additionally, there were masks of shame in the shapes of farm animal heads that cause slow death via starvation and also cut the prisoner's mouth should he or she choose to speak. One of the most painful-looking devices was the human stretcher...which stretches. Obviously. But ouch!

Fun fact: modern neurology shows that after being cut off, a severed head realizes what has happened for several seconds afterward. Talk about a retrospective.

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This week I went to the beautiful restaurant Botin with three friends from school. Founded in 1725, Botin is, at least according to the Guinness Book of World Records, the oldest restaurant in the world. Started back in the day by husband-wife team Emilio González and Amparo Martín, it is still family owned and operated today. The restaurant's specialties are roast baby lamb and roast suckling pig (which were delicious, but I'm fairly certain my arteries will be forever clogged). One of the coolest parts of this traditional Spanish restaurant is the dusty old wine cellar which has kept the same format throughout the years: you have to duck and follow steep stairs until you end up in a tiny damp cellar with dozens of bottles of untouched wine. Bottoms up!

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