Experience in Zaragoza, Spain by Carmen

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What is it like to live in Zaragoza? Would you recommend it? What is the city like?

Zaragoza is a great city to live in, it has almost 700. 000 inhabitants (5th of Spain), so it ain't a huge city to get lost.

Its location is a great advantage. It is right in the middle between Madrid (300kms) and Barcelona (300kms). 1h30 by train (AVE). Valencia and Bilbao are also 300 kms away.

The city is divided into 15 neighborhoods connected by buses and a tram line.It is also divided in the middle by the Ebro river.

Zaragoza has only one problem: The wind. It's a very sunny city but windy. It's very hot at summer and very cold at winter. It never snows here, and it hardly ever rains.

About languages, people here speaks a very understandable Spanish with a little accent. Old people usually don't know English, but French. Almost all young people know English. Anyway, people are very friendly and outgoing, so everyone will do their best to understand and communicate with you.

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What is the student lifestyle like in Zaragoza?

Zaragoza is the capital of the region of Aragón, therefore the University is a big one and offers almost all university careers, bringing together students from all over Spain and Erasmus.

The uni campus is in the center. Around the main campus there are a lot of bars which offer cheap drinks and food.

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What places would you recommend visiting in Zaragoza?

- If you go to Zaragoza you can't miss the "Basilica del Pilar", the main monument of this city, located in Plaza del Pilar.

- The whole old town has unique and beautiful places: La Seo cathedral, Alfonso street, Independencia walk...

-The Palace of la Aljafería, a palace characterised by its Muslim architecture. There are guided tours.

- Parque Grande José Antonio Labordeta, where you can rent individual bicycles or four people bikes to tour the park. There are usually cultural activities.

- La Romareda, football stadium of Zaragoza, which nowadays plays in the second division (will be back to first division soon I hope).

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-The expo: in 2008 an international exhibition on water was held, and parks and buildings were built that were related to water. Nowadays those buildings have become spas, hold rafting activities, canoeing, there's an artificial beach...

There is also a zip lines park, laser tag, golf course, paddle, and it's a very quiet place to go running or biking.

Is it good to eat out in Zaragoza? Can you tell us your favourite spots?

My favourite place ever is El Calamar Bravo, which is already a myth in Zaragoza. Best bravas and squid sandwich you could ever try.

If you like tapas, I recommend you the Tubo zone. There are plenty of places where you can eat Spanish omelette, mushrooms, migas...

Zaragoza produces one of the best Spanish beers: Ámbar.

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Is the nightlife good in Zaragoza? Where is good to go?

Nightlife! Yas!

Before going out, in Spain, and in Zaragoza, you have to warm up. There are two options. The first consists in drinking at your house or at a friends one. The second one is going to "El naútico", a place in the river bank where people meet up and drink a lot (known as botellón, typical Spanish).

Once you are drunk, there are many places to go in the old town, and with free entrance, such as El manolo, La cucaracha, Campus, Parros, Selfie...

Other great places are La casa del loco, Kenbo, Point... In this places you have to pay about 10-12 euros, but with a flyer you can pay half the price (Easy to get through facebook).

A not very known place is "El foro" a small bar that prepares unique and cheap shots.

I can't forget to name Las Fiestas del Pilar, which is the main Zaragoza festival. It's in October and it's awesome. Huge tents are mounted and for one week there are concerts every night and cultural activities for the day.

Another great party is "San Pepe". At the beginning it was a party just for engineering students, but nowadays is a party where all uni students meet at the park that surrounds the Zaragoza Theme Park. You can buy a ticket for 12 euros (cheaper than a regular day) and access to rollercoasters and stuff. At night-time there's a party inside the Theme Park. People drink all day and all night long.

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What advice would you give future students heading to Zaragoza?

Come to Zaragoza and enjoy!

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