Tag Archives: Spain

Vigo and beyond

6th August 2013

Looking back over my emails from this time I see this is the point I started looking around for a tour to join. I still hadn’t recovered well from my bouts of sickness that started in Paris and I think home-sickness was playing a large part in my feeling a bit lost.

The train journey from San Sebastián to Vigo passed through fields of what may have been wheat or barley and looked just like home at times, then I spotted the towers, so not Australia, lol. It’s fascinating to wonder why the train lines run where they do, sometimes almost on the beach, or running along a river and other times through small hills instead of around them. This trip was particularly interesting, farmland, mountains, a river with pretty garden plots, and a dam with its gates open.

Perfect weather in Vigo Spain

Perfect weather in Vigo Spain

I wandered aimlessly around Vigo for a day or so while trying to decide where to go and what to do next.All the same, it’s a pretty city and I was never lost for new and unusual things to keep me interested.I stayed near the waterfront quite close to the old part of the city, the cruise liner docks and even a shopping centre – the first one I’ve seen for weeks!

Jules Verne riding an octopus in Vigo Spain

Jules Verne riding an octopus in Vigo Spain

Did you know that Jules Verne set a part of his book 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea in the Bay of Vigo and he visited the city in 1878 on his yacht? Neither did I, but there’s a fantastic statue commemorating this on the waterfront!

The architecture is a mix, with huge ornate gothic looking buildings along side plain square block of offices and apartments. I saw several  unusual building details too, they looked like closed in Juliette balconies or window seats. I just love all the little quirky things you see, like a derelict building with a few of its outside wooden blinds still hanging as if new, or an old building finding a new purpose in life and still retaining its original gorgeous and unique features.

Loving this building in Vigo

Loving this building in Vigo

I sat and sketched in the gardens, watched a guy in the plaza entertaining kids with a bubble blowing contraption made from two sticks with a piece of rope tied to each end and a bucket of water and soap suds, and googled tours endlessly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Filed under Mid-life travel, Solo female travel, Spain, Travel

My gateway to Spain – Donostia San Sebastian

4th August 2013

Decided to spoil myself with a first class ticket on the TGV to San Sebastian as a few of the trains I’ve been on lately have been really crowded and noisy but not in a nice way.

Ahha, I'm in Spain!

Ahha, I’m in Spain!

Somewhere along the line a nice young Irish guy made his way into the almost empty carriage and was in for a good old chat. We were having a lovely time until the ticket person came along and evicted him for lack of the correct class of ticket! Poor guy, he had to go  back to the pleb carriages!!

The stop at  Irun was  a matter of follow everyone else and hope for the best. I didn’t realize but it was the border crossing because I was herded to what I thought was a ticket office, made to produce my passport and get waved on after a really perfunctory glance.

La Zurriola Beach in the late afternoon glow

La Zurriola Beach in the late afternoon glow

Parts of the journey took me along the coast which was easy to take and left me wishing I could stop for a while.  I also found it amazing how the architecture changed quite dramatically as soon as we were in Spain, the overall style of buildings was very different within just a few kilometers. My hotel was just a few streets away from the train station (getting clever!) so I had no trouble finding Pension Ondarra which was rather chic,  modern and in a great spot.

San Sebastian, Spain

San Sebastian, Spain

I thoroughly enjoyed my couple of days in San Sebastian, explored the beach close by, Zurriola, which is massive and full of people, young and old, playing games, surfing and generally hardly sitting still for a minute. Walked across the bridge to the old town centre and the more famous ones at La Concha Bay and marveled at finding such beautiful beaches only steps from the city and it’s grand old buildings. It surely must have the best in-city beaches anywhere in the world.

There was a great little bar just across from my hotel so pintxo and mojitos were my new favourites although I heard a gin-tonic is a San Sebastian specialty  – maybe I’ll have to go back again to try them!

 

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Filed under Mid-life travel, Solo female travel, Spain, Travel