Girona

Girona is a small medieval city with a lot of history. Traveling to Girona from Barcelona can be done by train, bus or rental car. We arrived in Girona that afternoon after our day trip to Figueres to see the Salavaldor Dali Museum. Finding parking was not the easiest task, but after about 15 minutes of circling parking areas close to our Air B&B in the city, we were able to find a spot open up. We began the 15 minute walk from the parking lot to our the apartment and, much to our surprise, found a stairway leading up to the top of a wall that we just couldn't resist. We discovered walkways on top of the Roman walls surrounding the Old Quarter.

We walked along the top of the wall, stopping at each of its towers to get a better look from higher up. We were able to see all the way to the Pyrenees Mountains. The sun was setting as we made it to the end of the walkway, which was blocked off just before the beginning of the Cathedral.





We passed the bottom of the Cathedral as we navigated the cobblestone walkways of the maze like old city. When the clock struck five, I could hear two or three bell towers ringing in the distance. A few seconds later, the tower we were passing joined in. Its volume was impressive.



Our keys to the Air B&B were not available until 6:30, so we sat in a nearby cafe and snacked on croquettes. My friend ordered a sparkling wine and the waiter returned with a half full wine glass and the remainder of a bottle of sparkling water. It turns out that he had mixed the sparkling water in with white wine. We got a good laugh out of the whole thing, as she had ordered "wine with gas." We appreciated his effort to fill her request, but she didn't have a second.



After checking into the three story townhouse that would be our home for the evening, we decided to go out on the town. Our night was spent conversing with locals about their view on Catalonian independence. Their passion was incredible. Many mentioned that most of the city would be shutdown the following day in order for the Catalonian people to protest. After visiting four or five different local bars in the area and stopping to enjoy the city lights dancing on the water beneath us on the footbridges, we took the short walk back through the hilly streets of the town.

The next morning, we awoke to some of the most beautiful view of the city from the top floor of our townhouse. I was unable to take a photo that would really do it justice.

Our first stop on the itinerary for the day was the Cathedral that we had passed on our way in the previous evening. The 13th century Gothic style church is the second widest in the world. The entire self guided tour lasted a little over an hour. It detailed the history of each of the churches many side alters.

Christ recumbent (1958), by Domènec Fita i Molat

Exiting the cathedral, we made our way down the stairs featured in Game of Thrones. The baroque main facade of the church was extremely detailed.

As we continued to explore, we ran across a courtyard with what had to be at least 50 people sitting together meditating in silence.  It was truly moving and unlike anything I had ever witnessed before. The spirituality rang silently throughout the pillars surrounding the center circle and more and more people continued to join.

We then decided to have breakfast before leaving the city of Girona and heading back to Barcelona.  I had French Toast at a place called The Federal. As we ate, I browsed the web to see if there had been any protest activity, as the bartender the previous night said there would be. The majority of the store in the town were also closed so that those workers too could be involved. I saw a few reports saying that Catalonians had been standing in front of trains and across highways. At this point, we really didn’t think there would be a chance of this affecting our trip. Boy were we wrong.

Posters were hung all over the city. I assume that they translate to “lets protest of November 8^th”…. As we made our way out of the city, we saw the majority of pedestrians either holding or wearing the Catalonian flag. But all seemed peaceful and we had not run into any disruptions. YET.

No more than 10 minutes after we got on the highway, the vehicles in front of us started coming to a halt. We were only able the 15^th or so car back, so the protestors must have just gotten there.  The backup was soon miles and miles long. Two of us decided to walk up to the front and try to see what was going on. When we got there, just as we suspected, a large group of protestors was blocking the road. Although we were stuck in traffic for a good hour before we were finally able to pass, I found this to be a very cool experience. I even got to hang out with a puppy German Shepard. Everyone that was on the highway were getting out of there cars and talking to one another about how important it was that Catalonians take a stand and demand Madrid let their political leaders out of jail. Everything was very peaceful and when we did get to pass, the protestors cheered us on.