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Published: April 4th 2016
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Today we are off to Girona Spain. Girona, a city found in the northeastern part of Catalonia, Spain is known for its old town medieval architecture and Jewish ghetto. It was also used as a set location for the television show, Game of Thrones, season 6.
When we first arrived in Girona, we were told to try the pastry xuixo, at a nearby pastry shop near the bus station. Xuixo, is viennoiserie pastry produced in Girona, Spain. It is a cylindrical pastry filled with crema catalana that is deep fried and covered with crystallized sugar. According to a legend, there was a young acrobat that fell in love with a pastry chef’s daughter. One day, while sneaking into the pastry shop to visit his beloved, the pastry chef appeared and he had to hide in a bag of flour. He sneezed (xui xui) and before the pastry chef could get angry, the acrobat said we would marry his daughter and give him the recipe for a special pastry, now known as the Xuixo. The pastry was so good and definitely worth the 6 euro we paid for it.
After trying the amazing xuixo, we were
off to explore the old town of Girona. But first we had to stop at the statue of the lion climbing up a Romanesque column. Apparently, it is good luck to kiss the lion’s bottom. By kissing the lion’s bottom, it is implied that you will one day return to the city of Girona. Unfortunately, only one person in our tour group was brave enough to do it.
The old town of Girona, is filled with Gothic churches, medieval walls and cobblestone streets. It is no wonder that it was used as a set location for Game of Thrones. It feels like you are walking in medieval Europe. Some of the main sites of Girona that we visited were the Cathedral, Sant Pere de Galliant church, Cathedral of Santa Coloma and the Jewish ghetto.
Then it was off for lunch at independence square. We walked down a main shopping street where there was a wide variety of designer shops before crossing the famous red steel bridge, the Eiffel bridge. The bridge is named after its creator Gustav Eiffel, the architect behind the Eiffel tower. We tried our first taste of pintxos, small appetizers consisting
of a slice of bread in which a mixture of ingredients are placed and fastened with a toothpicks. Yum. …
After lunch, we headed back on the bus to our next stop, the Dali Museum in Figueres. Salvador, Dali is a surrealist artist, and is known for his imaginative and grandiose behaviour. A lot of his artwork in the Museum, was of his wife Gala, whom he loved very much. There were holographic and optical illusions and a 3D anamorphic room with custom furniture which displays the face of Mae West from a certain vantage point. The outside of the building is covered by eggs and bread. A very weird but thought-provoking museum! Definitely, the best museum we visited on our entire trip!
After the Dali Museum, it was time to head back to Barcelona. When we arrived in Barcelona, we headed over to the beach area in Barceloneta. The area was dead quiet, so we headed back to the main square, Placa Catulunya, where we went to an all you can eat cheap food place, as our last meal in Barcelona. We were starving and the Tapas were not filling us
up. Tomorrow, we head to Ronda, known for its natural beauty.
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