Ola, Vigo

As soon as I landed at Vigo airport (Ryanair has flights to Vigo from Bergamo twice a week), I realized that my English won't be very useful here. This was the first shock for me, as I was always spending my summers on different workshops abroad where they only spoke English. My Spanish is not very good and I often mix it with Italian (do not learn these languages one after the other), so it seemed to me that I could have minor problems. I decided that this would not be an obstacle to me, but a challenge. That is why I started the first evening searching for Spanish courses in Vigo, and through the Couchsurfing application I also searched for people that I thought they knew how to speak English and would be hanging out with me, simply because I cannot be silent all day .

But here I can tell you my first advice for when you arrive to an unknown place and are planning to stay for some time. There are millions of ways to get to know both locals and foreigners. Of course, you can meet them on the bench in the park or in the famous tavern. You can also use different applications. One is the previously mentioned Couchsurfing, and the other one is Meetup, where several meetings are published, also related to language learning, which invite you to join. You can also join groups that are doing your favourite activities. You can find a youth group or a local roller derby team. In the end, I was running out of time for all those gatherings.

I stayed at the Altamar hostel, which was a hostel only for me. For everybody else, it was a student dormitory. This year was the first year when it was completely full of students and they could not accommodate tourists or pilgrims. An important part of the identity of Galicia is Galician language. This was also seen in the hostel, because all notifications were only in Galician. But don't be scared, Google translates this language too. I shared a room with a Chinese teacher who is here for a year's practice. She had more trouble with Spanish than me. I worked twice a day at the hostel. My task was to give lunch and dinner tickets to students, which means that in all these days I almost learned to say their names and surnames, that each have two. I also know how to count. I spoke with everyone in the hostel in Spanish, but we did not always understand each other. But you only say SI and it's clear to everyone that you do not understand. Good thing there is WhatsApp, where you can write and understand everything with the help of translators.

My days started early, or it just seemed to me that it's early, because it began to dawn at about half past eight. Almost every day I went for a morning and walk along the city streets to my one-hour Spanish course. I was learning Spanish with people my age. After the course, my time to lunch quickly passed, as I always found something new to discover.

I also had free time between lunch and dinner and all weekends. I really put this free time to good use. During the week, I explored Vigo and I had something to see. Each roundabout in Vigo has a statue or an unusual sculpture. I visited many museums, some of them even had information in English, I also liked going to the parks. I had a lot of sunshine, so I spent some time on the beaches, I rented a bike in the hostel, so I cycled to the beach and even further. Most of all, I walked through the city streets and squares a lot. And as a true geographer, I got a couple of ideas on how to improve the image of the city. Sometimes I felt, as if the planners didn't care for people and constructed wide roads and large roundabouts in the very centre of the city. Sometimes it is very difficult to cross the road. Bike routes start just outside the city. The city is also very industrial. Big cruisers are built here. Sometimes I said that I liked everything about Vigo except the drinking water and air.

Over the weekend, I went on short trips. I went to the glorious city of pilgrims in Santiago de Compostela, I also went all the way to Portugal in the city of Braga. One Saturday I went to the Cies Islands, which can be visited by only 3,000 people a day, and the tourist boat is now driving only on weekends. And this is also visible on the islands that are the true treasure of different animals and plants. When listening to the sounds of the Atlantic, we can observe the birds. The islands are indeed a great example of protection against mass tourism, despite the fact that The Guardian has declared the largest beach on the island the most beautiful in the world.

And when I'm talking about mass tourism - I really liked that there aren't that many tourists in Vigo. The whole place was so full of locals and I easily blended in. The people were friendly, and everything around me was cheap. I was especially impressed by the coffee, because I always got a cookie with it. Portions in Galicia are really big. You order a sandwich, you get two huge pieces. Just one more proof of universal friendliness all around.

At the end of my stay I really appreciated the European Union as I had free text messages, calls and mobile data abroad. This helps primarily when you need to call someone, you need a translation, or show the tickets that you have on the phone.

Vigo showed me how to travel to unknown places for a longer period of time. I learned about the secrets of the city, I saw all the markets and parks and eventually returned home full of impressions. And if I ever wanted to travel to big tourist destinations, there was always public transport that can take me wherever I want. HI Connect teaches you a bit about working abroad and something about the culture of the place, and you learn their language in between.