Travel Post: From Andalucía to Galicia

This past week was Semana Santa, i.e. Holy Week, in Spain, and nowhere else is it celebrated more feverishly than here in Sevilla. Cue the hoards of tourists infiltrating the city. Instead of sticking around and suffering the massive sea of people - not to mention the heat - to witness the processions, which are internationally-renowned spectacles, I took advantage of the week off to book it up north for a little getaway; una escapada. 

General Overview

Advanced editing done with basic paint program

On Monday, I left Sevilla and headed up north to Madrid for a short one-day stop; una parada corta. The following day, from Madrid I traveled further up north, at the same time heading west, to my ultimate destination, Santiago de Compostela (not labeled on the map for whatever reason) in the province of Galicia. Basically, what I want to illustrate here is the shift from the southernmost region of Spain, i.e. Andalucía, to the Great Atlantic Northwest. Continue reading to discover the significance.

Means of Transportation
I confess, I'm not much of a planner. Actually, I thoroughly dislike planning things. So without really thinking through this particular detail, I decided to travel from Sevilla to Santiago by land. This entailed a six-hour bus ride from Sevilla to Madrid (by far the most cost-effective option), followed by another six-hour train ride from Madrid to Santiago (reverse-order for the return trip). A total of 24 hours on my ass in a moving vehicle, not including side trips, within the week. Next time I think I'll just cough up the extra 15 euros and catch a plane...

Quick Stop in Madrid
Madrid is known to be bursting with culture. It hosts a plethora of exhibits, museums, cultural activities and stunning architecture:

El ayuntamiento - The town hall

Some random bank office, I think

Parque de Buen Retiro

It's also huge. Like, gigantic, gigantesco. For this reason, and whatever others, I've honestly never found much appeal to Madrid. This being my third different occasion visiting, Madrid and I never quite got off on the right foot; we've never really embraced each other. Despite having visited many of the historic tourist spots and taken strolls down the streets to admire all the glamorous buildings, I never felt like the vibe to the city was particularly inviting. In fact, quite the contrary: I find it overwhelming, stressful and unsettling.

Madrid ... always moving

I can see why some people would find Madrid exhilarating, but, in short, it's just not a good fit for me personally; no me pega. Too big and too busy. Luckily, I had a chance encounter with my sevillano friend Pablo on Monday, which made the experience much more pleasant. But, in the end, I didn't even bother staying an extra night on Friday after I left Galicia, and instead thought it more preferable to catch the bus and head back to Sevilla four hours after my six-hour train ride ...

Moving on to Greener Pastures
Enter Galicia. Home to:

A nice break from Cruzcampo

Their own regional bank

And of course:

The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela ... unfortunately under a bit of reconstruction

Galicia is primarily known for the old town of Santiago, and its Cathedral represents the final destination of El Camingo de Santiago, i.e. The Way of St. James. However, I made two day trips to A Coruña, a port city just an hour away by bus from Santiago (indicated on the map). My primary intention was to go soak up the sun at the beach, but as in the Pacific Northwest, the weather was a bit unpredictable, and the day that started like this:

Perfect beach weather

literally half an hour later ended up like this:

The entire city blanketed in heavy fog

No matter, because strollin' alongside the ocean was a breathe of fresh air and incredibly therapeutic. Some of the sights didn't make things too shabby either (albeit, in fog, of course):

Torre de Hercules

El mar

Two short visits, one last year and this most recent, and I've grown very fond of Galicia, in particular A Coruña. For one part, it does remind a bit of Seattle; laid-back attitude, fresh air, mild weather, great sea food, and, of course, the wonderful coast - minus the tourists. A Coruña is actually surrounded by the water on two sides, and literally a five-minute walk across town can take you to the other side (Jason Derulo)! And then there's the matter of the people ...

Los Gallegos (The Galicians)
Non-hyperbolically speaking, Galicians are the most soft-spoken, mild-mannered, calmest - tranquilísima - people I have ever come across in my 23 years of existence. I'm not talking about one, two or three individuals; I mean as a collective group of people, everyone super tranquila. Now consider the past three months and change I have spent in Sevilla, where the people are always comically animated and full of expression. To fully capture this contrast, I give you this illustration:

Forget the "hot" in the middle. In terms of personality, los gallegos and los andaluces are the total antithesis of one another. If you measured noise level and talking speed on the same scale, Galicians would be on the extreme of super soft and super slow, Andalucians obnoxiously loud and incredibly fast (both in their unique, strange accents). Galicians have a cool and gentle demeanor about them; Andalucians are generally very passionate and wear their emotions on their sleeves. Introverts versus extroverts. In a nutshell, they're polar opposites of each other ... too ironically like their respective positions in the country. So you can imagine why, after every exchange I had with a gallego, I couldn't help but laugh to myself. Over and over again.

Not to mention, everyone in Galicia was super friendly and super approachable, and I really appreciated that they didn't treat me as someone exotic. Of course, people in Sevilla are extremely friendly, too, in their own energetic, fun-loving way. The common characteristic that both regions share is that they're easy-going people with laid-back attitudes. People are sincere and warm. In Sevilla, people love to yell and laugh. In Galicia, people like to smile and have more, eh hem, civil interactions. Of course there are drawbacks to both kinds of people - perhaps at times Sevillanos can be borderline obnoxious and rude, Gallegos borderline dull and boring, depending on your point of view - but you realize that the positives far outweigh the negatives and come to appreciate these (stark) regional differences for what they are.

A bit of humor gallego

Now What of All This?
Spain is a fascinating country with a strong sense of regionalism that I would like to explore more of. It's funny because I had already visited many of these places the year before, but with a mindset of a tourist. There's no shame in that of course, especially because Spain has many remarkable attractions and a ton of intriguing history to boast of. But this time around I'm more interested in learning about the people and their everyday life. In doing so, I find myself always relating things back to my life in Seattle, to my hometown, to my roots. And thus, ladies and gentleman, if you have made it this far, is the life abroad: one giant reflection.