Galicia (Spain), Porto and Lisbon

The trip is really starting to pick up now. The hostels are great. Many cool travellers. There are many parties, and of course the weather is so warm and sunny! The whole hostel atmosphere is just perfect, not just for the fact that you're meeting cool and interesting people from all over the place, but that people usually do the same route, or the opposite one; this means you can meet up with new buddies somewhere down the road, or get tips on the people just coming where you're going. It's also really nice to mingle and party with your house mates (sometimes go out on the town about 20 people together). I've been meeting many Canadians, Quebecers and lots of Americans.........all super cool!

My Ryanair flight over to Santiago de Compostela, in Galicia Spain just above Portugal, was actually very cumfy, and I lucked out with a seat in front of the door so plenty of leg room.

Santiago was great! It has a different ambiance from th rest of Spain since it has a Gaelic background (Galicia district.......Gaelic). I was walking through a park and there were some people playing tam-tams and all of a sudden, the bagpipes bust out and they're jammin' all together. Really cool. The architecture is a little colder than the rest of Spain, meaning there's more stone, less Terra Cotta-Stucco. It's still warm though and with the local time, the sun goes down around 10:30pm.

Santiago is rather famous as being the final destination of the christian pilgrimmage which starts all the way from Toulouse France I believe. I don't really know much about it but I'm sure auntie Pat does. Because of the religious cannotations, there is obviously an extensive plaza and church (pic left). I was also really lucky 'cause there was a festival in town, which is specific for Santiago, so there were rides, live music...... the whole shibang, and of course party. It is a university town so there were many students out (pic right) all over, and it went on all night. People drinking everywhere......just straigt up debotchery! People just given'r like a ski-doo on a roof eh! I love it because it's normal in Spain! It was even better since I met some cool californian chicks at the hostel and hit the festival with them.

I took a day trip to Noia, on the atlantic coast, and went to nearby OCastro de Baroña to see the castle ruins or rock formations (pic left), I'm not sure what exactly. Just awesome! It was my first taste of shirtless weather, with a nice beach, excursion, and as you can see I had a prime spot to chillax and have a little lunch (pic right).



I love the natural spots.........parks, mountains, reserves.....etc......much more than the city life.....even though all of the architecture is grand. Pic on right is also around the castle.


On my way back to Santiago I was waiting on the side of the road for the bus, and a sweet 62 year old Spanish lady named Leila picked me up just like that. I felt comfortable with a 62 year old so I hopped in. The language barrier was a little tough but of course we worked throug it and she even brought me to her regular bar along the coast and bought me a beer. The people in europe are so welcoming, and sympathetic........Something we need to work on in North America. I meet people and it usually ends up in, "if ever you're in town just email me and you can stay at my place".........just that simple.....Even friends of friends that I've never met have no problem letting me crash at their place.

On my way to Porto, there was a stopover at Vigo, near the Portuguese border, as I waited for the next train, so I went to check out the town with my huge backpack. Kinda rough with the hilly terrain. I went to check out another castle......the view was awesome, and there was a cool fountain (pic left). I also spotted a very innovative, I thought, statue near the town's port (pic right).

Then came Porto.......What a gorgeous city......The neat thing is it feels like a village and the people act like it even though there's 400,000 of'em. They all care for each other and want to keep it clean, and help each other out. Porto is supposedly the city with the highest # of water fountains per city block. They are everywhere.......So gorgeous. The hostel was brand new and gorgeous; right in the city center, huge back yard, run by 5 friends that renovated the whole thing themselves. I actually showed up on their first night.....not knowingly. I met my first canadians there. I got such a good taste of Portugal there. The people are sooooooooo sympathetic and fruit is cheap and so good. And of course wine, wine, wine.....cheap, cheap, cheap. Rampant is the mosaic stone sidewalks (every single sidewalk and many many streets) and light blue tiling everywhere (like church on left). Certain spots around the city are breathtaking (pic right).

I also took a tour of one of the Porto wine cellars (Vasconcellos cellar) along the river-side (pic left) with Kamil, my new buddy from T-dot. It smelled so good in there and we got a little taster at the end.



I also went on a day trip to Aveiro to check out a football match (real football). It was the UEFA Eurocup for under 21's, and we saw Denmark vs the Netherlands. These kids are just awesome. Really good players. We actually got in for free also because they were giving tickets away at the door.

Then came Lisbon. So much to see and do........Again, so gorgeous in terms of streets and buildings and monuments (pic on right is Terrer du Passo......the main Praça) . There's the Castelo de San Jorge with a great view of the city (pic left). It takes a little longer though to feel comfortable there since it is such a big bustling city. There are such tight streets and steps everywhere. Bars and restaurants and cafeterias all over the sidewalks and plazas. Everything is terrace style. Just wandering around and getting lost was really fun too......just discovering.

There is also a pastry with custard creme called pasteis that is everywhere in Portugal, and it was supposedly invented at the "Pasteis de Belem" which is in the Belem quarter of Lisbon, and they are supposedly the best in the world. I had to get some obviously and it was so damn tasty, with a little powdered cinnamon and sugar. The Geronimoss cathedral and museum right beside (pic left) and Tourreiro across the street were quite impressive (pic right).


Lisbon was also the first place where I partied with a big crowd from the hostel all together. That was really fun! We hit a karaoke bar and you can imagine the rest. It was also cool to hear the Portuguese people all sing to the same songs that I had no idea was about. I also met my first quebecers on the streets (hearing the accent) and then ended up being at the same hostel. I stayed 3 nights in Lisbon, all at different places cuase of the Rockin Rio festival......lots of people just for that. All of the hostels were nice and in the city center with many pedestrian streets with shops and restaurants......(pic on left is of another square just down the street from hostel looking at the castle) And the pic on the right is of a statue in the castle that was just asking for it.



Lisbon was quite unique, nice and refreshing, and bloody hot all the time. There were even some people doing capoeira in the street. Really nice to watch with the music and singing.


There are also statues of cows everywhere in europe. I'm not sure what the exposition or message is but there are so many and they're different. I saw some in Scotland, and Portugal. I take pictures of the ones I like.

The highlight though was a day trip to Sintra, just 30 minutes by train out of Lisbon. I'll save that for next time.......

Bõa dia