Girona Spain

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On Sunday, the boys and I left Dave in Edinburgh to finish up his teaching gig; we flew to Girona, Spain in Catalonia (North East), which is not too far from the Pyrenees in France.

We stayed at a new Express Holiday Inn in Salt, a town on the outskirts of Girona. When we visited the nearby mall in search of dinner (7:30pm) we were surprised to find all the shops closed. We inquired at the hotel desk, and discovered that actually the shops had not yet opened for dinner! So, we took an short but exciting drive to the Las Ramblas area of old town Girona (to find some tourists because we knew there would be food nearby).

Tips for Driving in Spain 1. usually those narrow single-lane alleys only go in one direction, 2. Rotaries - It is okay to stay in the rotary until you know where you want to go and are ready to exit, 3. Some rotaries have 2 exit lanes - make sure you are in the inner one if you want to stay in and circle another time around, 4. If you enter the wrong toll lane and have to back up and cross a lane or two of traffic to get into the correct one, some people get cranky, 5. there dont seem to be any rules for motorcycle drivers.

Jack and I had a lovely but quick dinner, while Michael had a migrane. We were all exhausted and so went back to the hotel and crashed. Monday morning we got up and drove into Old Town to walk the roman walls that surrounded the old city and to explore. The walls were loads of fun -- there were paths and towers and courtyards. We also visited the Arab Baths and some medieval churches and plazas. (See photos). Tuesday, we drove to the area called Costa Brava and the town of Begur (about an hour from Girona). I would love to come back to this area-- it was so pretty and there is so much to do! We drove down to a beach called Aiguablava which was just beautiful. The boys climbed the rocks, watched the snorklers and wanted to rent the pedal boats with attached slide. But, we had to get back to the Girona airport, return the car and meet Dave for our bus trip to Barcelona. Maybe another time.......

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Photos

Salt, near Girona
Tree sculptures in hotel plaza

Girona (Old Town)
Passeig Archeological- Roman City Wall that enclosed the city

Boys on Wall
Wonderful 2 km walk with several towers we could climb for lovely views to France.

Watchtower part of Roman wall
We did not see Charlemagne but he was reputed to have been here

Girona Cathedral
Earliest parts are Romanesque (11thC)

Arab Baths
Romanesque building from 12th C

Bath
Frigidarium with dome roof inspired by Roman public baths

The Call
A street near the History Museum of the Jews which tells of the Jewish community in medieval Catalonia up to their expulsion in 1492.

Motorcycles near the River Onyar
Anyone can drive one! And, it seems they do!!

Begur and its fortress
a lovely town on the Costa Brava

Begur (Old Town)
Wish we had had more time.......