On a whim recently we decided to go on a nostalgic trip to Salamanca. Nostalgic because I was there for my year abroad from October 1974 -75. Franco era, medieval university town which hadn’t changed a great deal from the 17th century.

I had chosen to go there because of its ancientness and beauty and purity of the language, which I was ostensibly studying.

My parents – recently reconciled to treating each other civilly after 16 years of silence – actually took me there – a five day road trip which was wonderful – and then they left me to my own devices. Not quite so wonderful.

Salamanca was indeed beautiful, but I was lonely, and unhappy, and cold. Yes. It was sunny in October. Then hell froze over. But that’s another story.

I stayed till May when I came back early in order to vote to become part of Europe. And for forty years things were fine on that score. Anyway. Back to Salamanca.

Beautiful as I said. Interesting. Very. But the university was closed and the people were either extraordinarily friendly and forward, or just plain cold. Police everywhere.

In the end I did make some very good friends, some of whom I am in touch with till today, but there was not a lot to draw me back until now.

I did go for a weekend in 1992, though. That was a shock. From a medieval village it had become very Disneyfied with a toy train for the thousands of tourists, garish lighting, etc etc. Although we had a nice time despite the shock of the new.

But again no reason to return. Until now. We were going to Madrid and thought it would be easy enough to go on the train. The journey is much shorter than fifty years ago and very civilised.

We booked a lovely hotel on the other side of the Plaza Mayor. I’d only ever been to that area by the River Tormes once as a student. It was very much a red light area at the time and I’d gone for a walk with someone who eventually really unsettled me.

So this time we laid all these ghosts to rest. The hotel was in an old Dominican convent. Beautifully remade. We went up to our room and the first thing we saw were these nesting storks.

This bodes really well for the rest of our trip.