Že cel teden se sprašujem, da kak za vraga da sem šla nazaj na Portugalsko, ko pa je razlika zelo očitna, ko greš čez eno in edino mejo. Za praznike sem šla k portugalskim sosedom - v Galicijo. Pač, verjetno se je to vprašal že tudi kdo, ki je iz Avstrije prišel npr. v Maribor. Kako imajo lahko severni sosedi ulice popucane, smeti ne puščajo pred vhodnimi vrati ali ob kanti (verjemem, da je zelo težko odrpet njen pokrov), tlakovci po ulicah in pločnikih so položeni tako, da se ne spotikaš in lahko dejansko normalno hodiš, bajte ne razpadajo in so vsaj tiste v centru porihtane in za pogledat. Glede na to, da sta Vigo in Pontevedra obmorski mesti, je temu primerna tudi hrana. Ostrige se prodajajo na ulici, hobotnice pa kuhajo v velikih čebrih pred restavracijami. In za tapas se da dobiti tudi krompir, ki ni pomfri (to mislim, da je portugalcem že znanstveni presežek) in še kaj bolj zelenjavnega (npr. tipične mini pečene paprike - pimentos de padron). Zdaj pa najdi ti kaj takega v Portu, če lahko. Zelo, zelo težko. Ker Portugalcem je itak francesinha že presežek kulinarike. Hobotnice očitno plavajo samo do španske morske meje, bakaljau se pa itak uvaža iz skandinavije. Če češ na Portugalskem dobro jest, pač greš na Madeiro al pa na Azore. Hehe. (Ja, eni pač mamo keš, a ne? :P) Pa mislim, da se bom zdaj nehala pritoževat čez Portugalsko, sej sem zdaj res vedla, kam spet grem.
V glavnem, Galicija me je presenetila v vseh pogledih (dobro, kava je pač taka španska). Vreme ravno ni bilo naročeno, ampak lahko bi bilo še huj. Školjke take in ovake, ribe, hobotnice (če že spet falim na velikonočnem zajtrku, pa naj bo vsaj nekaj, da se ve da so prazniki), povsod. Vigo je sicer tako bolj moderno mesto, malo večje kot Ljubljana, ampak definitivno ne dolgočasno. En dan skok v narodni park na otočke Cíes, kjer je vreme dejansko boljše kot v Vigu (ni samo nateg od info centra). In debel pogled, ko pač vprašam, kje je kaka ok restavracija - aka. "pa kaj ti te je, tu se dobro jé povsod!" In tista dva iMac-a za dostop do interneta v info centru sta tudi vredna ogleda :-) Ha!
Če ne bi teden dni nazaj srečala enga Galicijčana, bi še kak dan ostala v Vigu, ampak je on zavestno trdil, da v Vigu ni nič, da naj tam ostanem maximalno 2 uri in da Pontevedra je the place to go! In dejansko je Pontevedra res simpatično mestece. Tako, da me je zgrabla nostalgija po majhnih mestih, ker sem lani dejansko ugotovila, da se da imet čisto fajn v kraju z 20 tisoč prebivalci. Včasih se tako res vprašam, kako so lahko eni takšni kraji res živi in se nekaj dogaja, po drugi strani pa se v Mariboru še vedno hodi vun po urniku. Sicer pa mislim, da se me v MB šteje bolj za turista, kot karkoli drugega. Res, Pontevedra je čist fletno mestece s starim mestnim jedrom, popucanimi ulicami in polnim glavnim trgom, tudi v nedeljo!
Galicia!
So, Galicia was really a surprise in a good way (except the coffee is still just Spanish). Weather wasn't good at the time, but doesn't matter. Seashells in many different ways, fish, octopus - everywhere (yes, I am skipping the easter breakfast at home again, at least some standard has to be!). Vigo is actually quite modern city, slightly bigger than Ljubljana, but definitely not boring. Short trip to the Cíes islands national park, and a surprise look, when I ask for some nice restaurants to go - "food is good wherever you go". And those two iMacs in tourist office are definitely worth to check out! :-)
Since a week ago I keep on asking myself, why I went back to Portugal - while there is so much difference by the "neighbors". I had visited Galicia for Easter. I think that is the question that people ask when they come from Austria to Maribor for example. How there streets can be clean, there is no garbage in front of the doors (I believe is definitely difficult to put the garbage into bin), the sidewalks are made that you can easily walk without looking down and at least those houses in the city center are not falling apart. Vigo and Pontevedra are both at the coast and also the food there is like that. Oysters are sold on the streets, octopus also. Find something like that in Porto, if you can. No go, because francesinha is the national dish here! Sometimes it seems that octopuses and squids are swimming just till spanish border :-) So, go to Azores or Madeira, if you wanna eat good portuguese food.
A week before I met a galician guy suggesting me to stay in Vigo just for 2 hours and go to Pontevedra instead. I would definitely stay more time in Vigo, but that time he was insisting that Vigo is boring and there is nothing to do. Actually, Pontevedra is really cute city that made me feel nostalgic about life in small cities. A year ago I realized, that is possible to have much fun in a city with 20k inhabitants. And I still find it interesting, how can some small towns never be boring and with much things to do and on the other hand, in Maribor you can only go on when calendar says so.
To sum up, Pontevedra is lovely city with and picturesque historic center, tidy streets and with main square full of people - also on Sunday!
Labels: blorum, galicija, islas cies, kulinarika, pontevedra, španija, vigo
