Spanish Life, Girona Day Trip Edition

LOCATION:

Girona, Spain

 

Erin and I decided to take a day trip to the nearby city of Girona to 1) activate our rail passes and 2) experience the walled city that received rave reviews from our friend Jen. We activated our month-unlimited rail passes with relatively few hiccups in the morning, so as far as I was concerned the rest of the day was a bonus. But when we got off the train in Girona, it's charms quickly cast a spell on us both. I wish I had counted the times we exclaimed "no way!" or "is this place for real?'

 

One of the few bridges that crosses the river through town.

 

Such pretty colors on the buildings!

 

I kept getting "Girona" confused with "Verona" because it felt very Italian and Romeo and Juliette-esque!

 

Surprise parks and green spaces around every corner.

There were steps down every corridor, leading to who knows where!

Hands down, the coolest part about Girona (in my opinion) were the walls surrounding the city. The walls were constructed while the city was under Roman occupation, which also explains why much of the city has an Italian feel. Most of the walls were destroyed in the early part of the 19th century, but there were about two kilometers still standing for tourists like us to explore. I have never seen a walled city before, so this was pretty cool. A side note on all the steps in Girona - Erin has been wearing a pedometer, which makes stepping kind of like a fun game. I can't remember the exact number of steps, but ten miles were trekked around Girona!

These purple flowers growing on the wall looked and smelled amazing.

Erin in the walls.

 

A view of one stretch of wall.

 

Good thing we did a lot of walking, because we also managed to do a surprising amount of culinary tourism in our four hours in Girona. First, let me explain the idea of a menu of the day. It consists of an appetizer, entree, dessert, and drink usually for less than ten euros. Yes! So after my spinach cream soup, pizza, and chocolate mouse, I was not exactly hungry. But in addition to its unique heritage, Girona is becoming know for its food scene - it is one of the only places in the world to have three restaurants with three Michelin stars each. One of these restauranteurs recently opened a gelato stand, so we decided to give it a try. It was more like soft serve and - while it was pretty tasty - I would have just as easily preferred a scoop of Ben and Jerry's. We also checked out a famous pastry stop to grab some goodies to go before sprinting back to the train station just in time to make our train back to Barcelona. Day trip success!

 

Another fun travel day with Erin!

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy