It’s always a great pleasure to visit Salamanca and to be reminded of the wealth and artistic genius of 16th century Spain. And to enjoy a range of tapas not available in Galicia. Including farinato, which I’d much appreciate the recipe of, if anyone knows it.

I won’t bore you with any of my pix except this one . . .


What with the sashes, the hair-dos and the gorgeous dresses, one could be forgiven for thinking this was a beauty contest. In fact, it was a graduation ceremony.

A few seconds after I snapped this, someone issued an instruction to move to another staircase, whereupon several of the lovely ladies treated us to the traditional Spanish response of “Joder!” Or “Fuck!”. The beast within the beauty.