GALLERY: Vigo

Hello everyone! I just finished my last exam here and I go home in six days!

After Santiago de Compostela, my last stop during Semana Santa was in Vigo, another city in Galicia. I went there for the beach and also because it's where my UNC TA is from, but it rained for most of the two days I was there so I didn't get to enjoy the beach as much but I still had a lot of fun.

This is a statue that was in the plaza right outside my hostel. When I first got to the city it was a little to early to check in, so I left my stuff there and walked around for awhile before I found a place to eat lunch. As you can see, there was a large ominous cloud in the sky, which is pretty much what the sky looked like my entire time there even when it wasn't raining.

put a ring on it

I found a park and sat there for about two hours working on the application for the internship I have in DC this summer. Once it started drizzling a little I found an Italian restaurant called GoPiano and had lunch.

After I walked to the beach area because the sun had come out for a little. One of the things I thought was really cool about the city is that all of the major roads are named after places in Iberoamérica, which is Spain and Latin America. From where I was to the coast, it was pretty much a straight shot down Venezuela Avenue.

Once I got to where I could see the water, the view was beautiful, but to actually get to the port I had to walk down a maze of steep and skinny streets. On the Vigo side of the water there wasn't really a beach but the docking area for boats. There was a tourist office nearby where I learned that I could take a boat ride to the city across the river for a couple of hours, so that's what I did! It was about a 30-minute trip to Cangas, and I stayed there for dinner before returning to Vigo for the night.

art

The next day I went back to the port just to chill for the day. It was Easter Sunday so nothing was really open. There was a mall on the water so I went inside and had a really good caramel coffee.

The restaurant I ate at was toward the city and away from the beach, and on the way I saw this cute little nugget.

For lunch I ate at a restaurant called Detapaencepa and ordered fish and chips, except the fish was replaced with calamari instead. I also ordered a mojito, which you all know is my favorite drink by now. It was probably the best one I've had so far, and it came with olives, cheese and bread. The cheese was delicious and even better with the bread, but I was trying not to fill myself up before my meal came.

aw hi

oops

After lunch I went to a pastry shop and had dessert, and then it started raining too hard to just be leisurely walking around the city, so I went back to my hostel for the rest of the day. I didn't mind too much because I had to submit my internship application in two days, so I had time to work on my essay. I left later to have dinner, and when I came back I went in the lounge to keep working on the essay. But I fell asleep from the -itis and when I woke up the guy who was at the reception desk was in the room sweeping. At this point it was around 11 p.m. but there was 24-hour reception so I'm sure he was bored and needed something to do.

He told me to go back to sleep but I told him I needed to be awake anyway. He asked me what I did in the city that day, which wasn't much because of Easter and the rain, and then told me I should come back when it's closer to summer. Around this time in the conversation we switched to speaking in Spanish because he told me he was struggling a bit, and then asked me if I knew how to play chess (in the lounge there was a table with a few board games on it). I didn't know how to play chess, and he asked if I wanted to learn. So, instead of finishing my essay and going to sleep I stayed up until about 2 a.m. learning how to play chess (and in Spanish)!!!! That was one of the highlights of my time in Vigo for a few different reasons. First, it was spontaneous. Secondly, all I really did in Vigo was walk and eat so it was nice to have something to break the cycle. And lastly, I spent most of my spring break alone so it was nice to hang out with a friend for a couple of hours. Also, I've always considered chess something for geniuses so now I know my brain is at least 5 times bigger.

The next day I had a bus ticket back to Pamplona at 4 p.m., so all I did was finish my application and eat brunch before heading to the bus station. I ate at Tapas Areal and ordered scrambled eggs with mushrooms, salmon, and cute little toast triangles. The waitress was so helpful in helping me order because I didn't know what to get, and she made suggestions based on portion sizes since I was solo.

I definitely want to visit Vigo again at a better time of year, so hopefully that's somewhere in my future.