Vigo Reflections I

 One of my favorite things about living in downtown Vigo so far is how walkable it is. Yes, there are a lot of hills, and some of them quite steep, but there are sidewalks everywhere, and a lot of people walking.  The drivers know to watch for pedestrians and they are generally pretty good at it. 

A few years ago, grappling with their aging population needing to get around, Vigo began adding escalators up some of the hills.  They are little oases in the midst of the city, enclosed in glass with lots of plants and even music that sounds like it is from the Monterey Bay Aquarium...I feel a bit like I should be seeing jellyfish when passing through. They are relaxed little microenvironments in the midst of the bustling city.

There are also lots of parks and pedestrian-only thoroughfares.  This means that you can avoid quite a few streets with cars when walking through the city.  The kids can walk almost half the way to their swim team through parks and pedestrian-only streets. And there is a lot of art, sculptures, murals, and graffiti. This last one brings up an interesting point.  Vigo prides itself in being a very clean city, and it shows. They have a brigade of people out cleaning the city daily, picking up trash, sweeping the sidewalks, and trying to clean off the graffiti.  And I have also seen people mopping the sidewalk outside their own doorsteps.  This helps keep the city pleasant and walkable.  In fact, people are out walking at all hours of the day.  On Saturday morning at 4am, I heard the voices of about 20 people walking in the street happily singing (haha)!

The citizens of Vigo consider themselves among the happiest with the highest qualities of life in the world.  You can take a read about why here, just click next to the web site address and click on the translate option to read it in English. https://www.elespanol.com/treintayseis/articulos/vivir/por-que-vigo-no-esta-entre-las-ciudades-mas-felices-del-mundo-y-deberia?fbclid=IwAR14m4xKK2PErbxsgggd_fQQL6CpUp82wvwCzcaTuxgbhWXEoWuL9VwJRVc

So far, I agree with the article. 

Lots of surfaces to traverse!

This is the alley right next to our apartment, one of the most steep in the city.  It leads to the closest market so we walk it often.

The swimmer sculpture...lots of maritime and nautical themes.

Going up one of the escalators up the hill.

One of the major pedestrian thoroughfares.

One of our favorite buskers along the pedestrian walkway. He plays a mandolin, harmonica, drum, and makes the 3 little dolls dance all at the same time. Enchanting!

The beautiful waterfront it just a 15 minute walk downhill from our apartment.

 

Check out the name of this boat!