Friday 21st April 2023

A day trip to Girona and what a beautiful city it is, one of the best we have seen. It’s small, has loads of history, beautiful buildings and a fabulous wall to walk on.

The first view was from one of the many bridges looking towards the cathedral. Next, The Eiffel bridge, yes the same man designed it, is very different from the rest, but definitely iconic.

We bought a joint ticket for both the cathedral and the basilica, still astounded by the great value for money entry into most Spanish historical buildings. The cathedral was certainly impressive. It was redesigned at building stage giving it the widest knave of any church in the world except for the basilica in Rome. It was humbling in its simplicity, much like we would imagine was the original intention. They even found a 500 year old hidden stained glass window behind the alter dedicated to St. Francis. It was on display, it was beautiful.

We went in hunt of food and on seeing some parasols below the cathedral we headed straight there. What a find, a Taverna called El Drak which brewed its own artisan beer. We picked Dark Night, a Stout and a larger called Lost in Valhalla. We followed this up with Dragons nest (bread filled with baked cheese) with Pesto salad and potatoes.

We headed back to the basilica which was built outside of the walls making it look like a fortress from the outside. Inside it looked like a church, smaller but just as impressive as the cathedral. We also wandered through the tiny cobbled streets of the best preserved jewish quarter in Europe. From 982-1492 Jews lived in Girona. The area called El Call is a maze of narrow winding cobbled stone lanes still intact and very much like they were 500 years ago.

Last but not least a walk on the medieval walls called the Passeig de la Muralla. We climbed some of the towers which periodically interupt the walls giving us great views of the city.