A Room without a Roof ...

Finding somewhere to live:

The first thing you should do before arriving in Vigo is to find a home.
Renting a flat here is very easy if you know people who live in Vigo. They could help you to choose the best area where you can live and satisfy your preferences. For example, if you prefer to live near the university instead of living in the centre, you can decide to live on campus.You should know the University of Vigo is a bit far from Vigo city. It's something like 20 mins by car.

Furthermore people can talk directly to the flat owners to make renting easier and maybe cheaper.
Another option is, when you arrive in Vigo, you could go to an estate agent (inmobiliaria) and while you are looking for a flat you could stay in a hotel or pension for a few days.
Below are some links to estate agents who arrange apartment letting:

Maica Inmobiliaria:
http://www.inmomaica.com/ (it's better to go and speak to them in Avda Castelao)

See also Marzo 2012 (20/10/2008)





Where can you rent a flat?
When you arrive in Vigo and you don't have anywhere to sleep you can rent a room for two nights in a hotel or hostal while you look for a bedroom in a flat.
For this, Maica Inmobiliaria is the best in Vigo. They show you all the flats and bedrooms you want for free and they offer you very good prices. For example, they have a big room in a cosy flat in Rua Urzaiz from €150 per month. You can phone to 986-243262 and talk to Maica. She is very nice and she will help you.

Shopping in Vigo

Shopping for Food ("food, glorious food" )

You can find a large selection of groceries at a good price in Alcampo. There are two Alcampo hypermarkets in Vigo. One is on Avenida Castelao and the other one is on Avenida de Madrid.
To buy fruit and vegetables at a good price, you can go to Frutas Sol or Frutas Nieves. You can find them all over the city.
To buy seafood at a good price, you must go to Familia supermarkets. There are several Familia supermarkets in Vigo that you can look for on the internet.

Pharmacies in Vigo

You can buy drugs (legal ones, only!) or medicines in Vigo at registered pharmacies. You find them in all neighbourhoods and all these places have a big lighting green cross. You can buy other products but only related with your health. For many medicines you need a medical prescription from the doctor, if you have an emergency, you'd better go to the hospital.
You should know that there are a few pharmacies open 24 hours a day and the information about which ones are open, you can find in any pharmacy. If the pharmacy is closed, generally, the information is located in a paper put in the door or window and there are the addresses of pharmacies  nearest you. Also, you can look for a pharmacy in Vigo by internet: http://www.cofpo.org/index.php/farmaImage-es.html but the information is only in Spanish, you should select Vigo as city or "Municipio", date or "fecha" and press search or "buscar" button, next appears the information of all the pharmacies in Vigo with the timetables.

Shopping for Clothes

If you want to buy clothes in Vigo, there are different options. In the first place, mainly when it's raining, you can go to shopping centres, for example, Gran Via Shopping Centre, El Corte Inglés (in Gran Vía), both of which are in the city centre.
On the other hand, if you prefer buying while you are going for a walk, you've got to go to Principe Street or Urzaiz Street. Here, you'll see Zara, Pull and Bear, Springfield and other small shops with a lot of variety of articles and incredible prices.

Shopping for Souvenirs

You can buy souvenirs in La Piedra which is an area near the transatlantic port. To get to La Piedra take the overhead pedrestrian footbridge from the Laxe Shopping Centre. When you reach the other side you are in La Piedra. Here you can buy Meigas (a type of witch, popular in Galician folklore), licor cafe (a liquor made with grapes and combined with coffee), and queimada bowls (a special earthenware cup used to "burn" the aguardiente). Queimada* is a traditional Galician drink.

But the best souvenir is a Galician T-shirt like the one in the photo below:
On the T-shirt, you can see a Galician tradition which is called "A Rapa das Bestas"









*There is a whole ceremony connected with drinking Queimada including a spell that should be recited when "burning" the aguardiente.

FILIPO BAR

Last Sunday I went to a bar with some friends. We went to Filipo, a bar in Rosalía de Castro Street. I didn't know it, but my impression was really good.
It's a little place but you haven't got the sensation of being squashed. The waiters are really pleasant and they attend to you fast.
The relation between quality and price is very good, and you have great diversity of offers with some food or beers much cheaper than in other places.
It's not a restaurant, it's only a bar; however, you won't miss it, because with your drinks they give you "tapas" with lots of food. And, if you're still hugry they have chocolate with churros.
So, it's a good place for having fun some day that you don't know what to do, you can follow the football because they have four TVs; or simply you can talk with your friends. I suppose that the days that there isn't football, they have some music ot other kind of programs, trying to satisfy all the preferences of the clients.

PAPO'S

I think Papo's is the ideal place to get some fast food. You can choose from sandwiches, burguers and more elaborate dishes like pasta or salads.
In allo the menu, it's important to taste three well known foods: Louerdes, Maceio and Giorgio's. The two first ones are sandwiches, and the last one is a hamburger. These three foods are the favourite foods oh the Vigueses.
If you want to got to Papo's, you have got four different premises in vigo: the first one is in Gran Via, and it's the most important, two others are in Calle Venezuela and one is in Navia. There is one more, and this  premise id for the CUVI's students on campus.
These different premises can serve you in your home if you order by telephone all the food you want to eat, and this is an advantage that the others premises haven't got yet.
If you want to taste real fast food, you only have to go to one premise called Papo's.

Painting by Alfredo Souto Cuero

Alfredo Souto Cuero (1862-1940)

Vista dunha rúa do pobo de Estribela (1900)

In this picture we can see a small, traditional Galician village. In the middle of the square there is a “cruceiro” (high cross) which is behind the stone wall.

On the right of the “cruceiro” there is an old woman sitting next to a house. All the houses in this little village are white and old.

In the background there are a lot of green trees. 

O PORCO

O PORCO

If you live in Vigo, you must try the food of “Mesón del Jamón”, that is its real name but it’s known by “O Porco” because the pork there is great!

            It’s a rustic restaurant of tapas where in my opinion you can eat the best pork with turnip leaves (“lacón con grelos”), which is a typical Galician food. If you like it, I encourage you to eat pig’s ear, it doesn't look great but its taste is awesome. Also, the chorizo and the other dishes are so good and the most incredible thing is that you can eat and drink a lot for only €10 per person, more or less.

            This restaurant (tavern) is located in the old town, on Calle Real (Royal Street). I recommend that you go at night because afterwards, you can have a beer in some bars nearby.

 Enjoy your meal and the party!!!!

Climbing in Vigo area

If you like climbing, there are some areas in Vigo and on the outskirts where you will enjoy fresh air and fantastic views.

In Galiñeiro, Budiño, Monteferro, Hío and Oia there are a lot of routes with different levels from fourth to eight degree of difficulty. The only problem about this activity is the question of getting to the mountains. However the city council organizes walks most weekends and sometimes a bus is provided. The rock is granite, which is an adherent material.

The view from these places is spectacular. Even if you don't climb, you can enjoy walking along the paths  around these places. Galiñeiro is the highest mountain in the Vigo area. It is inland like Budiño. Monteferro, Hío and Oia are on the coast with spectacular sea views.

You can get information and pictures about it in this link:

http://trepadas.wordpress.com/lugares-proximos/

http://vincios.org (Cartografías Sensibles)


And here you can get more information about climbing in Galicia:

http://cantil.wordpress.com/


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