Films set and or made in Vigo and Galicia

20/03/2011

Films set and or made in Vigo and Galicia

· Romansanta
· Mar Adentro
· Lengua de Mariposas

In this section we are going to talk a little about the films which have been made in Vigo and in Galicia.
Raquel Porto tells us about a film called Romansanta.

The film I would like to talk about is called Romansanta and this is the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=latPhPUFvPo
It's about Manuel Romasanta, a killer who confesses the crimes of a village, after that a lof of corpses are discovered bearing both savage mutilation and precise surgical incisions. Manuel claims that he is a victim of lycanthropy. The film is based on a true story.
It stars Julian Sands as Manuel Romansanta, and Elsa Pataky and John Sharian.
The main characters are Manuel Romasanta, a galician killer. The film was directed by Paco Plaza.
The soundtrack is excellent, It was composed by Mikel Salas.
I would really recommend this film.

Raquel Porto and Pablo Falcón tell us about a film called Mar Adentro.
Mar Adentro (The Sea Inside)
The film is called Mar Adentro. The English title is The Sea Inside, but the meaning of the original title is “far out to sea”. It’s set in a little village on the coast of Galicia, Spain. It’s a story based on real events. It’s about the life of a man who became parapletic in an accident on a beach when he was a young man. He wants to die because he thinks that his can´t live with dignity. He wrestles with the authorities for the legalization of eutanasia.
It stars Javier Bardem as Ramón Sampedro. The main characters are Ramón Sampedro, his family and his friends.Ramón’s relations are José Sampedro (Ramón’s brother), Manuela (Jose’s wife and Ramón’s caregiver), Javier Sampedro (Ramón’s nephew) and Joaquín Sampedro (Ramón’s father). The other characters are Ramón friends: Rosa, Julia and Germán.
The script of the film was written by Alejandro Amenábar and Mateo Gil and it was directed by Alejandro Amenábar.
The soundtracks in Sea Inside come from several sources:

"Negra sombra" Carlos Núñez
"Nessun dorma" from Turandot by Giacomo Puccini
"Cosmic" by Australian Blonde
"Prisoners' Chorus" from “Fidelio” L.V.Beethoven
"Così fan tutte - Soave sia il vento" W.A.Mozart
"Echo City" Simon Rusell
"Prelude to the Act 3" from "Tristan und Isolde" R.Wagner

The final scene is the best for me and the most dramatic of the film because it´s the moment when he decides to end his life drinking poison and you see how he gradually dies.
I like the plot in general and finally he was able to have the right to die with dignity.
I recommend this film because it´s a reflection of what many families live day to day.

David Lamoso talks about the film Lenguas de Mariposa
Director ” Jose Luís Cuerda”
This movie is set just before the Spanish Civil War, more specifically in the winter of 1935.
Mocho is a boy of six years of age who could not begin school with the other boys. When Mocho was younger he thought school was a terrible place. He dreamt about going to America to not go to school. The first time he went to the school he was afraid because his father had told him the teacher hit the students.
Soon he found out that his teacher "Sr. Gregorio" was not so bad as his father had told him and that he did not hit the students. Moncho had found a friendly teacher who was prepared to break the educational rules and teach his students to love nature and simple things and poetry. Sr. Gregorio is a liberal and republican teacher who helps Moncho in the learning about life and liberty.
Mocho had a great interest in learning and his classes and he became the supplier of bugs for Sr. Gregorio.
When Spring arrives with the good weather, the classes continue outside school where it is possible to look at nature which impressed Moncho so much. On Saturdays and holidays Moncho and Sr. Gregorio went on excursions together to the river, the forest and the Mount Sinaí. On Mondays the teacher spoke about the bugs they had picked up in the forest and about the butterflies’ tongue which they looked at with a microscope.
The relationship between Moncho's father and Sr. Gregorio was excellent, in general almost all the village loved the teacher. Moncho's father made a suit for Sr. Gregorio to thank him for looking after his son.
After a good time of loving, liberty and happiness the civil war begins, and Sr. Gregorio is arrested by the army because he is a republican. All the village are afraid of dying and when the teacher is arrested everybody begins to insult him.
Moncho surprised by all this began to shout with his closed hands and shouts: "toad", "iris". This was the situation of a lot of people during the Franco regime.
The butterflies’ tongue deals with the brutal interruption of liberty due to the civil war and its consequences and how  our lives were and how they could have been.
As the boy throws stones to his dear teacher, his father feels ashamed and his mother feels intimidated.
Defeat of the rational and victory of the irration

Interviews we had with Eramus Students

20/02/2009

Interviews we had with Eramus Students

Piotr and Janus

Last week (the second week of December - how times flies!), Mary, our teacher, invited two Polish Eramus students to our class to come into contact with foreign students talking English. Their names were Piotr and Janus. They told us about Polish customs and their hobbies. Piotr told us that he lives in a flat with eight other students, all of different nationalities! When we asked him if he liked Galician food he said that since he had come to Vigo, for the first few months squid (calamares) was the only food that he ate because he knew what it was on the menu. Now he is tired of eating squid! Janus plays several sports but not baseball because he thinks he doesn't have the right constitution. The students spoke about the food from Poland. Their favourite Polish dishes are borsch which is a soup made from beetroot and pies made with pastry filled with onion, cheese and other things.
They both said that Spanish girls are beautiful, but Polish girls have blue eyes and blond hair ...
We found the Polish students' visit very interesting. And the course too ..., of course.

Adriana

Adriana is a Polish girl who is living in Vigo since September. She is on the Eramus Program of university students. She studied English Philology and now she's a teacher of English and she is doing her research on legal translation. She would like to learn Spanish but she hasn't had much opportunity to practise because she's living with two other Polish girls.
She came here to Vigo because she always wanted to come to Spain and she had the possibility of three cities to choose from: Zaragosa, Madrid and Vigo, which was the only city on the coast. So she came to Vigo, but she knew nothing about the city. When she arrived in Vigo she came with a friend and they had a volunteer student, Martin, who helped them with things like looking for an apartment, opening a bank account etc.
Now she's living in Plaza de la Industria and even though she isn't very sporty she loves walking in the city and she never takes the bus. Adriana likes Vigo and its weather and she loves fish very much. But she misses her family in Pozmon. She told us that at Christmas, it is Polish tradition to put twelve different dishes on the table and that her grandmother cooks small pies made with pastry (a bit like empanadillas, perhaps). The Polish love carp and borsht. They only drink wine on New Year's Eve. They always put an extra plate for a person that can come ... maybe this year it could be Adriana.

Getting Around in Vigo and Elsewhere

16/11/2008

As you can see from the date above this was written a while ago so maybe the info might not be so hot (up-to-date?).

Getting Around in Vigo and Elsewhere

The bus company that operates in Vigo is called Vitrasa. Its web page is www.vitrasa.es There you will find a list of the buses that operate and their routes with the corresponding timetable. As a student, you can get the Vitrasa bus card which you can buy at any Caixanova branch. You must show proof of being a university student though.

Buses that go to the university from the city:

The U1 bus leaves from Plaza de America (the Plaza with the fountain and the “Arc de Triumph”). The first bus leaves at 8.15 hours. The last leaves at 20.40 hours. It leaves approximately between every 10 and 30 minutes depending on the time of day it is.
The U2 bus leaves from Plaza de España (the Plaza with the horses). Again, the first bus leaves at 8.10 hours and the last at 20.40 hours. It leaves approximately between every 10 and 30 minutes, again, depending on the time of day it is.

The number 8 leaves from Areal and goes approx. every 60 minutes. The first bus leaves at 8.00 hours and the last leaves at 21.00 hours.

There is another bus route called CUVI 1 which leaves from Castrelos at 8.10 hours. There is only one bus so if you arrive late, forget it, ‘cos there won’t be another!


Buses that go to the different beaches:
· The L10 which goes to Samil, Vao, Canido and finally Saians beaches.
· The L11 goes to Vao and Canido beaches.
· The L12A goes to Saians beach and passes nearby Vao and Canido beaches. The last
two are about 10 minutes walk from the bus-stop.
· The C4C goes to Samil, the Sirenita and Vao beaches.
· The C15C goes from the university to Samil beach.
· The 15 A and the 15 B also go to Samil beach.

Night bus

· There are 2 bus routes that operate at night from 23.00 hours to 3.00 in the morning
during the week and from 23.00 to 8.00 at the weekends. You can check out the routes
on the Vitrasa web page.

Connecting with the boat that crosses Vigo Bay
· You can use your bus card on the boats that cross the bay. Only the company Mar de
Ons offers this option.

Other bus lines of possible interest:
Autna is a bus company that runs a service to the airport in Oporto which is called Sá Carneiro. The journey lasts one hour and 40 minutes. The price of the ticket for students is 10€ (November 2008). A return ticket costs 18€ (November 2008).
There are 4 buses from Vigo to Oporto Airport from Monday to Friday:

The bus departs from Vigo at 9.00, 12.00, 16.00 and 19.00 hours. The bus arrives at Oporto Airport at 9.45, 12.45, 16.45 and 19.45 respectively. Don’t forget that Portugal is 1 hour behind Spain! On Saturdays, there is only one bus which departs from Vigo at 9.00 hours and arrives at Oporto Airport at 9.45 local time. On Sundays, the bus departs from Vigo at 19.00 hours and arrives at Oporto Airport at 19.45 hours local time.

Coming from Oporto, again there are 4 buses from Monday to Friday. They depart at 9.45, 12.45, 16.45 and 19.45 hours and arrive in Vigo at 13.15, 16.15, 20.15 and 23.15, respectively. On Saturdays, there is one bus which departs from Oporto Airport at 9.45 hours and arrives in Vigo at 13.15 hours. On Sundays, there is only one bus too which departs from Oporto Airport at 19.45 hours and arrives in Vigo at 23.15 hours. As you can see the bus journey from Oporto is longer than the journey in the opposite direction, i.e. from Vigo to Oporto Airport. This is due to the fact that the bus stops at different places along the way en route to Vigo. Autna has a web page and an email address: reservas@autna.com. Their telephone number, here in Vigo, is 986 288 030. You pay for the ticket when you get on the bus and you get the bus at dock number 3 at the bus station in Vigo.

Castromil is a bus company that does the Vigo – A Coruña route. There are several buses during the day. The first departs at 6.15 and arrive in Coruña at 8.45. It runs from Monday to Friday. The buses makes stops during the journey in Pontevedra and Santiago. Most of the buses travel on the A-9 motorway. Buses also depart from Vigo at 8.30 (seven days a week), 9.30 (Monday to Saturday), 10.30 (seven days a week), 13.30 (Sundays only – this bus stops in Caldas and Padrón, as well), 13.45 (Monday to Saturday), 15.30 (seven days a week), 17.25 (Monday to Friday), 17.30 (seven days a week), 18.30 (seven days a week) and finally 20.15 (Mondays to Saturdays – this buses also stops in Caldas and Padrón). These buses arrive in Coruña at 11.30, 12.00, 13.00, 16.45, 16.15, 18.00, 19.50, 20.00 21.00 and 23.00 respectively.

Renfe is the train company and it goes to Coruña and it is a lovely trip as the train passes very near along the coast so there are beautiful views of the different rias or bays. Be careful if you are getting off in Santiago! Sometimes, the train doesn’t stop for very long with the result that if you are not careful it can move off before you have time to get off! Renfe has a website where you can get information on times and tickets etc. The webpage is http://horarios.renfe.es . Renfe also goes to Ourense which is a town inland in Galicia. If you are interested in buying a fan for the summer or for family and friends back home Ourense has a really cute little shop near the Cathedral which sells a range of different types of fan. It gets really hot there in the summer. The train from Vigo departs from Vigo at 6.40, 14.37 and 19.23 hours and arrives in Ourense at 8.43, 16.40 and 21.38 hours respectively. The train continues on to Monforte de Lemos, Leon or Ponferrada. The train departs from Ourense at 8.41, 9.44, 15.35 and 20.22 hours and arrives in Vigo at 10.47, 11.51, 17.33 and 22.24 hours respectively. Renfe also travels to Barcelona, Bilbao and Madrid.

ATSA is the bus company that operates between Vigo and Bayona. We couldn’t find their web page but their telephone number is 986 610 255. ALSA-ENATCAR-DAINCO travels to Bilbao via Asturias, Lisbon, Salamanca and Andalucia via Extremadura. They also travel to Belgium-the Netherlands-Germany and to Switzerland via France. Their phone number is 902 422 242.

Boats cross Vigo Bay to Cangas and Moaña, and in the summer to the Cies Islands. The boats to Cangas go every 30 minutes, Monday to Friday, starting at 6.30 a.m., and every 60 minutes, starting at 8.30 a.m., at the weekends. The last boat back to Vigo from Cangas is at 22.00 hours, seven days a week. The boats cross to Moaña, every 60 minutes, starting at 6.30, from Monday to Friday. At the weekends, the boats to Moaña travel every 60 minutes, starting at 8.30 a.m. The last boat back to Vigo from Moaña is at 22.00 hours, seven days a week. The boats operate out of the Maritime Station which is next to Club Nautico – a yacht club next to the main marina in Vigo. The boats to the Cies Islands only operate during the summer and they start (depending on the weather) at Easter. The Faro de Vigo newspaper has the timetables of the different boats and it also has a list of the bus companies that operate out of Vigo with their corresponding telephone number.

comments:

Michi said...

I think that if a erasmus confuses a area in vigo is because it did't read this fantastic blog.

12 November 2008 00:13

PAS students and mary, the teacher said...

Michi, that's exactly what we want to hear! Thanks for taking the time to share your comment with us.

14 November 2008 02:55

Anonymous said...

Hi!

I also think this blog is a good idea.
I have an annotation to Plaza Industria:
You did not mention that in the map it is actually called
"Plaza Eugenio Fadrique" - I know it because I live there. It is really funny because even taxidrivers sometimes only know Plaza Industria :-)

Furthermore I had another experience with street names. I rent a car from ATESA. The address of the office was "Carretera Vigo a Baiona 138". In google maps I could not find it. Because actually it is not a street name but several streets on the way to Baiona starting from Plaza America. So this one was the continuation of Avenida Florida.

Martin

9 May 2009 03:47

Where am I? Confusing Place Names in Vigo

09/11/2008

Where am I? Confusing Place Names in Vigo

Vigo is a confusing city sometimes, especially, for someone who isn't from the city. There are lots of streets and districts that have similar names that cause confusion for a new arrival. For example:

1. Plaza de America and Traviesas:
A student tells you that they live in Plaza de America. Your lab. partner tells you that they live in Traviesas. And six months later (not quite), you realise that they live in the same place. Basically, Plaza de America IS Traviesas! Plaza de America has a stone monument with a fountain where the Celta fans celebrate their important victories. They jump into the fountain and break the lighting system and flowers in the process! The popular name of Plaza de America is Traviesas, whose name, we think, comes from the wooden beams that were used for making the railway track of the trams that were once the main form of transport in Vigo. The sports pavilion off Plaza de America is known by this name, too. Traviesas is a neighbourhood and Plaza de America is a square in the middle of this neighbourhood (or district).

2. Plaza de Industria and Plaza de Independencia:
Plaza de Industria has an iron monument dedicated to workers in the metal industry (Vigo has/had an important shipbuilding industry). The monument shows a worker with a hammer in his hand. What looks like a fag (British slang word for 'cigarette') in his mouth is actually a screw (or maybe it's a bolt?). The Plaza is near Torrecedeira Street ("the Historic Campus of Torrecedeira"). Plaza de Independencia is near Plaza de America. It is a pedestrian zone. It is in Avenida de Camelias half way between Plaza de America and City Hall (the Ayuntamiento/Concello). Incidently, Plaza de Industria is actually the old name for the plaza because the current name is Plaza Eugenio Fadrique although most people still call it Plaza de Industria!

3. Beiramar is the street that runs along the fishing port and shipyards. This street is also known as Orillamar which is the name in Spanish. Beiramar is the Galician name. The same happens with other place names, for example, Panxón is the neighbourhood/area along the coast just before Playa America on the road to Bayona. In Spanish, Panxón is known as Panjón.

4. Plaza de España and Plaza de America:
Plaza de España has a large iron sculpture. It depicts a group of horses "flying" up into the sky. It's pretty neat. The people of Vigo are fond of this sculpture. Plaza de España is near the General Hospital, the tall "green" building that you can see from practically everywhere in Vigo.

5. Travesía and Traviesas:
Traviesas is an area but Travesía de Vigo is a street. Travesía de Vigo is a long street that goes through a lot of different areas or neighbourhoods. The large shopping mall which has the cinema complex, Yelmo is in this street. This street is near the entrance/exit to the motorway to Santiago whereas Traviesas is near the beaches. In fact, Traviesas is on the way to the beaches Samil, Bao and Canido etc and several buses stop here on their way to the beaches.

6. Castrelos and Castelao:
Castrelos is an area which has a park and a street named after it. Castelao is a street which begins in Plaza de America and finishes in Samil beach. Castrelos Street also begins in Plaza de America but it doesn´t go in the direction of tthe beaches. If you like cycling, Castelao Street is a good route to take if you are going to the beach. Castrelos Park is fantastic for jogging, walking and playing football etc. It is near Celta's Balaídos Football Stadium. In the summer, they hold open air concerts here. Castelao passes through the neighbourhood of Coia.

7. Vázquez Varela and Velázquez Moreno:
Váquez Varela Street is in the town centre and is near the railway station. It is parallel with Gran Vía Street. The General hospital(El Xeral) is at the top of this street. Velázquez Moreno is also in the town centre. An important bookshop called "Casa del Libro" is on this street. It is perpendicular with Principe Street, the pedestrian street.

Alfonso XIII and Paseo de Alfonso XII:
Alfonso XIII is the street that goes from the train station down towards Policarrpo Sanz Street. Coming from town, if you continue along Alfonso XIII Street you end up on the motorway to Santiago. On the corner at the bottom of Alfonso XIII, there is an important church called Santiago el Apostal. Paseo de Alfonso XII connects Pi y Margall Street with the Puerta del Sol which is in the centre of Vigo. It has lovely views of Vigo Bay and there is an olive tree, "El Olivo" which is the symbol of Vigo. Up from the Paseo de Alfonso is the red light area of Vigo.

Cabral and Alcabre:
Cabral is near the airport and the zoo. The football club, Celta de Vigo has a stadium in Cabral where its second team plays its league matches. Alcabre is a residential area on the coast and has a beach called Alcabre. The Maritime Museum is in Alcabre. Vigo's only 5 star hotel is in Alcabre Pazo dos Escudos.

Tomás Alonso and Tomás Paredes:
Tomás Paredes is a wide street that connects Bouzas (a neighbourhood on the coast) with Coia which is the neighbourhood between Plaza de America and Samil beach. It is perpendicular with Avenida de Castelao. Tomás Alonso is a long narrow street which is a continuation of Pi y Margall street. It connects town with Bouzas, a neighbourhood on the coast. Part of Tomás Alonso is parallel with Torrecedeira Street.

Campus Lagoas and Campus As Lagoas:
Càmpus Lagoas is in Vigo. Campus As Lagoas is in Ourense.

La Alameda and Plaza de Compostela:
La Alameda and Plaza de Compostela are two different names for the same place!

Las Avenidas and Montero Rios:
Las Avenidas and Montero Rios are two different names for the same place! The most important marina in Vigo is in this area.

Gran Vía:
Gran Vía is divided into two parts. It's divided by the Plaza de España (the square with the horses). It is a long street. To refer to the part nearest the town centre people usually mention El Corte Inglés, the large department store which is on the left going up the hill from the city centre. The "other" half of Gran Vía stretches from the square with the horses down to Plaza de America. On this part of Gran Vía, you have the shopping mall Gran Vía.

Carretera de Baiona:
This is a street which starts after the roundabout at the end of Avenida de Florida and Avenida de Balaidos. Coming from town, the Citröen factory is on your left. A lot of car dealers have their showrooms on this street.

Popular areas for Student Accommodation

20/10/2008

Popular areas for Student Accommodation

Torrecedeira St. is a popular place for students. It is near the Faculty of Business Studies and the School of Engineering. Students can study in the School of Engineering library. The library stays open until late during exam time until 3.00 am. During normal school term it closes at 10.00 pm. There are also bookshops and a stationer's and, at least, 2 photocopying shops. Beside the Faculty of Business Studies there is a basketball court. At the end of the street nearest to the centre you will find a sports pavillion.
Several bus routes pass along this street (e.g. C1 Circular which connects Torrecedeira St. with town. This bus passes every 10 minutes. There are ciber cafés too and, of course, bars and places to eat that suit a university student's pocket. There is, at least, one pharmacy on the street and there is another on the square (Plaza de Eugenio Fadrique more commonly known as Plaza de Industria) at the end of the street. Many of the apartment blocks along this street offer fantastic views of Vigo Bay. Nearby in Pi y Margall St. there is a lovely old building called Casa da Xuventude where you can find information about subjects important for young people and students.
There are a wide range of supermarkets in Torrecedeira St. You can find a Froiz at the very beginning of the street (coming down from Paseo de Alfonso St.), Dia and Eroski are 2 other supermarkets which are a bit further down the street and a Familia supermarket is almost at the end of the street, off a side street near the lights, just before the Plaza de Industria.
You can find a Coren Grill there too, next to Rosalia Castro Park where you can buy roast chicken and other take away meals. This premises is also open on Sunday mornings.
Although Torrecedeira St. does not have many boutiques or clothes shops in general it is quite near Plaza de America where there is a large shopping mall with a wide range of shops. On Torrecedeira St. there is also, at least, 1 branch of the Caixanova bank and on Coruña St. which is the street that connects Plaza de Industria with Plaza de America (also known as Traviesas which is not to be confused with Travesia de Vigo which is another street on the other side of town) there is a branch of the BBVA bank. There is a post office on this street too.
We should also mention that Torrecedeira St. is also near the old part of the town (known as "Los Vinos") where there is a zone with restaurants and pubs and a special attraction every Sunday: the Market of the Piedra which offers typical products of other countries and denim clothes at very good prices if you can haggle (bargain). One more thing - it is near the port and you can take a boat to visit Cangas, a town on the other side of Vigo Bay or visit the Cies Islands which has some wonderful beaches or simply to take a trip by boat or finally to enroll on a sailing course.

El Calvario is another popular area for students because there are a lot of shops, bars, restaurants, pharmacies, supermarkets, bookshops and photocopying facilities in the area. Its main street is a pedestrian zone. You can find two libraries: Caixanova Library and Rivera Atienza Library which is open on Sunday morning until noon.Very near there is the EOI (Official School of Languages) which is another interesting facility for students. Next to all of these places there is a pavillion and a swimming-pool that is open until midnight. Calvario has an excellent market which sells fresh produce including fish, meat, fruit and vegetables. Nearby there is a mall which you can go to on foot in just a few minutes. Calvario is a well-served area, you can get to the rest of the city and the beaches (on the other side of the city) by public bus transport system known as Vitrasa. There is a bus stop in front of the main entrance to the Language School. The C6 Circular bus passes every 20 minutes. Calvario is near the airport too and the bus station. There is a post office in the area too.

Barcelona St. is another popular area for students because there is a lot of rented accommodation there too. The street also has a lot of bars, restaurants and several computer chains have shops on this street. There is a hospital, too, called Povisa. The area is quite well served by the public bus system. There is, at least, 1 bus route that connects the street with town and a taxi rank is next to the hopital. Traviesas, also known as Plaza de America is only a few minutes walk from Barcelona St. and Gran Via shopping mall is very accessible on foot, too. There is an excellent photocopying shop called Copyplan nearby on Zamora St. which is parallel with Barcelona St. There is a post office at the top of this street near Plaza de España (the plaza with the horses). This street also has pharmacies and banks. If you want to go the beach you should go to Plaza de America where you can find several bus stops that link the city to local beaches (No. 11, 15, 12 ...) or you can go further to other beaches such as Prado and Patos, well-known for their big waves where people do windsurfing and bodyboard. The trip from Plaza de America takes only 20 minutes. Other beautiful places where you can find more beaches are Panxón, Playa America and Bayona. To go to these you need to take the ATSA coach that does the Vigo-Bayona route. The ATSA bus stops in Plaza de America on the corner of Florida St. which is one of the streets that comes off the Plaza. It passes every 30 minutes.

Another popular area for student accommodation is called Traviesas. It is situated in and around the square called Plaza de America. The main streets in this area are: Avenida de Florida, Fragoso St., Avenida de Castrelos, Camelias St. and Avenida de Castelao. We could describe the latter as one of the lungs of Vigo owing to the leafy trees that extend all along the street. It is a great street for taking a walk or for going for a jog or cycle. This avenue is also near the local beaches: Samil, Corujo (O Vao), Canido. Bus routes on this street go out to the beaches. The best place to get a bus to one of the beaches is, perhaps, in the Plaza de America, itself. You can also find Traviesas Sports Pavillion on Avenida de Castrelos just a few minutes walk from the Plaza de America. A little further down this avenue is Castrelos park where you can find the Quiñones de León Museum. Almost hidden, behind the Museum is a large garden with a fountain and lake where students can read or sit and enjoy peace and quiet, something that can sometimes be a bit in Vigo given the traffic in the city.
Traviesas has very good bus connections with town, with the university and it has all the services that a student might need: library, shopping mall, cinemas in the Gran Vía shopping mall, pharmacies, photocopying facilites (A4, Copyplan, Camelias ..... to name just three), shops and ciber cafés.