It's no secret that I love living in the Northwest corner of Spain. I have lived here since September 2014, and left for 7 weeks this summer to work in Aragon. Although it rains frequently in the winter and some people complain about the lack of connections with the rest of Spain, I chose to stay here for another year. When people think of Spain, a sunny version of Spain or the bullfighting stereotype may come into mind, but Galicia is different. You are more likely to hear someone playing the bagpipes rather than dancing flamenco, actually I've never seen someone dance flamenco here, ever. The fact that it rains frequently means the landscape is absolutely beautiful and I really need to start checking out some of Galicia's natural parks. If I lived in a more central area of Spain, such as Madrid, I would be able to travel Spain and Europe more easily, but I prefer to explore the area around where I live in order to be able to spend more time with my friends. I renewed to stay in Vigo one more year when I could have requested a different city within Galicia, or even a different region of Spain because I am very comfortable here and there are still so many places left to explore. Here are some reasons why I chose to stay in this coastal port city.
1. My friends. I have been so lucky to meet really good friends. A few weeks ago I was sick and these friends of mine have been driving me to the 24 hour pharmacy, offering to take me to the doctor, and telling me which doctors I should go to before I had received my insurance. By the way, in Spain you can go to a doctor in the private system without insurance and only pay 20 euros for a visit!
I had a kleptomaniac/all around horrible roommate last year and my friends (and their families) would always invite me over to eat and were always there for me when something went wrong. It is so important to have people you can rely on wherever you are, but sometimes when you live in a foreign country and unpleasant things keep happening to you it can get to be too much. Luckily, I never felt that I couldn't handle a bad situation, because someone was always looking out for me.
Apart from all of the bad things, we also have fun. I didn't want to move to a new city or town, because the "getting to know you" conversations that can ensue from being the new foreign girl, or simply moving to a new place get old. My friends speak to me normally, they don't slow down or use different words for me. This means that I may not understand everything, but now I speak Spanish with a sprinkling of Galician expressions.
Parque de Castrelos, Vigo
In the train from Vigo-Santiago de Compastela
Nerga, Cangas
Vigo
Ourense
Vigo
Celta de Vigo!
Fiestas in Galicia
There is no type of party like a Galician party. My friends and I frequently stay around Vigo because the nightlife is excellent and varied, but once in a while we go to a festival in a village or city. Many of these festivals are gastronomic, or honor the saint of the city or town.
San Juan in Panxón
Fiestas de Coia with my parents
San Froilán in Lugo
La Arribada in Baiona
5 days of Carnaval in the region of Ourense
San Blas in Bembrive
O' Marisquiño in Vigo
La Reconquista in Vigo
El Magosto (all over Galicia)
2. The port. It's beautiful and I love walking on the promenade that leads from one side of the port to the other. There are many nice cocktail bars and restaurants in this area.
3. The nightlife. Most of the time I start the night by going to the bars on
Calle Real (Vinos) located in the old town. My two favorite bars in
Vinos are
O Ovo and
El Porrón. In O Ovo the specialty is a small glass of sweet wine served with a boiled egg, along with paprika and salt. This is a great place to go when it's 4 a.m. and you need the energy to survive the very long spanish nights/mornings. In El Porrón you can order different wines and ciders in a glass wine jar with a long tapered drinking spout. I then go to the bars on Churruca street, these bars are very popular with fans of live music, as well as musicians. There are many places to hear live music in Vigo, in a variety of genres and entrances start from 3 euros. There are many places to dance and the few
discotecas that charge an entrence fee only charge 5-6 euros, which usually includes the consumption. The
discotecas are located in the arenal area, which is located closer to the port.
 |
O Ovo
Churruca 20 |
4. The amazing beaches that are accessible by public transportation. If you feel like taking a walk on the promenade, while eating an ice-cream,
playa de Samil is your place. Many people say the quality of the sand in
Samil isn't as good as the beaches a little further from Vigo, such as
el vao but the amount of facilities it has (mostly geared toward children) such as pools, playgrounds, sports facilities and plenty of restaurants. I prefer to take bus number 11 to
el vao because it is often less crowded and the sand is very soft.
The beaches across the bay of Vigo in Cangas are very beautiful. Cangas can be accesible by boat or bus, but to reach the beaches on the far side of the island you need a car.
The
Ciés islands are accesible by ferry from the port of Vigo.
Basketball in
Playa de Samil
Nerga, Cangas
Samil, Vigo
 |
| Secret Beach |
 |
| Secret Beach |
 |
| Terrace - Samil |
 |
| Cangas |
 |
Cangas. Vigo is in the distance
The Ciés islands
|
5. It's close to Portugal: This year I have decided to take classes at the language school. They offer many languages in Vigo such as German, Chinese, English, Spanish for foreigners, French, Galician, Italian, Portuguese and Japanese. It is so nice going to Portuguese class three times a week and having the ability to jump on a bus and be in Portugal in 30 minutes! I hope to explore more of the North of Portugal this year. Porto is the city I most frequent on my 36 hour weekend trips. The food is delicious, the nightlife is incredible and there are many clubs with live bands playing Brazilian music. Galicia has two official languages (Spanish and Galician) and the Galician language is very similar to Portuguese, so my portuguese has improved based on the fact that I constantly hear galician on the street and in my school.
 |
| Porto over Easter break. |
 |
Porto
|
 |
| Porto nightlife |
 |
| Port wine tasting in Gaia |
Matosinhos |
|
Praça da liberdade, Porto |
 |
| Porto |
 |
| Port cellar, Gaia (across the river from Porto) |
 |
| Porto |
 |
|
Porto |
6. The food! I would say that my favorite food is
Pulpo a Feira, or boiled octopus, cut with kitchen scissors and then drizzled with olive oil, before it is sprinkled with paprika. In the region of Galicia and several other towns and cities in Spain the waiter will bring you a small plate of food (
tapas) with your consumption, or at least some olives or chips.
 |
Pulpo a feira (Octopus)
|
 |
Tapas
breakfast tapas (churros)
|
7. It's simply easier. I wanted to live in a flat with friends or at least people who knew one of my friends, so that I didn't end up with another crazy roommate. Because I had already lived in this city one year I had several options, and was lucky enough to get several leads from friends. Now I am living in the city center in a spacious flat with three other nice people and I couldn't be happier!
