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Move to Spain and lots of friends and acquaintances message you to say they’re coming and to ask when/where they can meet up. I certainly didn’t anticipate how many friends/relatives would come to Europe, but it has been nice to reunite with people and see new places. A Canadian friend I knew from Daegu was traveling in Portugal and Spain with a couple of friends, so we decided to meet in Braga, Portugal, for a day at the beginning of May.
Braga is only about 1.5 hours from Ourense, but unfortunately there’s no direct public transportation, and blablacars are also rare. So, realistically, the main way is to go to Vigo and then get to Braga from there via bus or train. Because of the schedules, I decided to go to Braga on Sunday, stay overnight, and then meet them on a Monday for a half-day.
It was a huge coincidence that I happened to meet two guys from Braga who were traveling in Ourense the week before, and one offered to host me and show me around. So the plan was to get to Braga in the afternoon, do some touristy stuff on my
In Parque San Roque, Vigo
Camera was accidentally on b&w, but that's okayown, then drop stuff at his apartment, and go out in Braga.
Things didn’t go according to plan, but it was still a great trip. I got a blablacar to Vigo in the morning, but when I went to the Alsa bus ticket window there, the woman said the 1:30 bus was full. I didn’t realize it was possible to buy those tickets online. Often, the bus tickets are only sold at the window or when you get on the bus, so I didn’t even think to try to buy them online. Very luckily (because it’s not common), there was a blablacar available for 7:30pm instead. So, I booked that and the bus back for the next day. With that, I had an unanticipated 6 hours to see Vigo.
The weather held out as I explored the port city. It’s the biggest city in Galicia, and it was strikingly more spread out than I expected. I basically just wandered around the old city, went to the port, watched children sailing in individual sailboats that seemed pretty unstable, and read a bit.
As I was heading back up to the meeting spot
for the blablacar, I came upon a May Festival (Festa dos Maios). In Ourense, they had one too, so I guess they’re common in Galicia. Locals dress up in white with some colored scarves and wear flowers. Musicians played what I assume is traditional Galician music. Just as I was about to leave and the band was about to finish, some dressed-up spectators arrived and started doing traditional Galician dancing.
I headed up the main shopping street, which reminded me how much bigger the city is from Ourense. It was so wide and grand. I prefer smaller, and slightly more charming, Ourense. When the weather turned bad, I took refuge in a bar for a while, then went to meet my ride. Overall, Vigo is alright. I would go back to explore more, but I wouldn’t really want to live there (although links to public transportation to the rest of Spain and Portugal are probably the best in Galicia). As I’m writing that it’s too big, I’m also worrying that I’ve requested (and confirmed) to live in A Coruña next year, which is another relatively big city, but on Galicia’s north coast. I’ve never been there, and
I’m hoping it is a nice blend of the two.
The trip to Braga was a bit more than an hour, but I arrived close to the “same time” I left, because there’s an hour time change in Portugal. *Quick tidbit: "Braga" is the name of the city, but in Spanish, "bragas" are underwear!* Okay, continuing. My host picked me up from the bus station (where we’d arranged to meet before). The weather wasn’t great, but he drove me up to Bom Jesus do Monte, a church on a hill overlooking Braga. There’s an incline that runs only on water (no electricity!) there, which is cool.
There are also magical-looking gardens, which I’d love to stroll around on a pretty day. With more time, you can also go up or down the steps that lead to the church—they have sets of religious statues. As we left, my host put the car in neutral, and we started going backwards down the “up” hill. There’s a spot that’s like “Gravity Hill” where it seems like you’re going down a hill, but it’s actually an optical illusion. ^^ Cool!
Next, he took me to
Casco Vello (Old City), Vigo
Some areas have been remodeled, but some are pretty run down Sameiro, which is a different religious place (monastery) on a different hill, which you get to along very curvy roads. The forest around there really reminded me of southwestern PA in the spring—so beautiful and green. Galicia is also super-green, but it doesn’t tend to have a lot of low-growing plants. The sun was almost down and it was foggy, but Sameiro is well-managed and beautiful. In the evening, we just cooked at home and chatted instead of going out because he was hung over from going to the student festival the night before and I was tired from traveling.
In the morning, we went to the train station to pick up my friend and her friends. It turned out they had all lived in Daegu, so we had some overlapping acquaintances! Teaching ESL makes the world smaller! It was pouring down, so we started at a café called A Brasileira (the Brazilian woman). Our host-turned-guide explained that it is a ‘typical’ café, and it’s also one of the oldest in Braga (since 1907). The timing was perfect in that when we finished our teas/coffees/pastries, the rain had dissipated.
We strolled around the old
city. We saw the famous gate to the city that doesn’t have a door. Because of this, Portuguese say that people in Braga leave their doors open (meaning that they’re easily trusting or naïve?). I need to go back to walk around some more. Braga is The City of Churches, so I didn't expect much in addition to them, but the city itself seems neat. I feel like Portugal is the Japan of Europe architecturally. Yes, they’re totally different from each other. But there’s just something so timeless and cute about the architecture in both countries. Even if buildings are in disrepair, they have charm. When things are built, there’s attention to detail. Braga has some azulejos (tiles), and lots of sidewalks are made of stones in patterns (not cement). Also, cities consciously design for pedestrians, not only for cars.
Since he insisted Bom Jesus and Sameiro are the unmissable parts of Braga, our host drove us up there again. The weather was better this time, but we didn’t have a lot of time because my bus back to Vigo was at 1:45pm. We’d planned to do lunch in Braga too, but ran out of time. We
said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. I accidentally hugged the Portuguese guy instead of doing kisses. Cultural confusion, but no biggie!
The Braga bus station is medium-sized, but there was no Alsa bus window. There also wasn’t a screen that showed what lane the bus would pull into. There are companies painted on each lane, but Alsa also wasn’t listed. After wandering back and forth, I went into another bus company office to ask, and the guy said it would come basically right there in front of the office. The scheduled time of course came and went, and I got more and more nervous. I checked online to make sure it was coming to this station (it was the only one in Braga!). I walked back and forth and kept a close watch on all the buses that passed to make sure I didn’t miss it. Luckily, it arrived 15 minutes late!
As I went to board, I showed the driver my cellphone with the ticket on the screen, as I’d (and others had) done on other bus rides. But he proceeded to lecture me in Spanish that I was supposed to
have printed the ticket. After I explained that I had been traveling, he said I should have gone to equipaje (luggage--apparently there is a luggage department in the bus station) to register or something 30 minutes before the bus arrives. He went into this whole “you can’t ride” act, but I legit didn’t know and explained that. Eventually he let me on, phew.
Later, I asked my Galician roommate what she would have done based on the email ticket receipt instructions. They said basically you need to “declare” yourself 30 minutes before the bus comes, but they don’t specify to whom (to declare yourself!). It was like Michael Scott on "The Office" declaring bankruptcy by saying "I declare bankruptcy". My roommate said she wouldn’t have known either. But now we know to try to print the tickets, especially when crossing borders (even though the border there is open). And if you don’t have it printed, try to find ‘equipaje’ and see if they can help you out.
I made it to Vigo, and just had a little wait for my blablacar back to Ourense. I went to the lower part of El Castro park--which
was perfect--to have a snack and hang out. The walk there, west of Plaza de España, went through a bit of a ritzy neighborhood, and it reminded me of Highland Park in Pittsburgh, heading towards the park. The next time I’m in Vigo, I want to climb up to the top of El Castro.
Eventually, I made it back to Ourense. It was a lot of traveling for a short trip, but it was one of those satisfying trips, when you meet great people and see new places.
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You got a lot of really nice photos considering the weather. Thanks for sharing.