Postscript: There I was checking to see that yesterday's report had been published and I noticed two new photos which Ewan had surreptitously inserted at the end. It reminded me that....heaven forbid!...I had left a Museum off the impressive list! At the end of the day we went to the port to visit the Maritime Museum. I decided that a better option was to sit outside in the shade and sleep off the effects of the nasty (and unfortunately ineffective) painkillers. Ewan managed to take a photo to show what a lovely time I was having whilst he was inspecting the Royal Galley from the 16th century.
After Ewan managed to negotiate with the railways website and online booking system , (which required a lot of swearing and advice about how it could be improved) we packed up and headed for the train station: destination Girona.
Unfortunately we didn't manage to get on the very fast train or the not so very fast train or the moderately fast train but we did mange to get on the MD or second slowest train. I feel we will have to book a trip on at least one fast train or Ewan will be very disappointed.
Ninety minutes and some snoozing later we arrived at Girona, a beautiful old town centre around the River Onya. With some time to kill we had lunch: an 11 euros Plats du Jour, which was fabulous: gazpacho, chicken and ricotta cake for me . Mussels, fish and yoghurt for Ewan.
We headed up the cobbled streets of the old town through winding streets looking for the Airbnb apartment.
It occurred to me that a new career option could be luggage tester as we dragged the wheels of our luggage over a range of cobbled stone streets all made from local river stones. The noise was deafening but we were impressed that the luggage -and us - survived the walk.
We were delighted to discover that the airbnb apartment was situated in a stone heritage building and that our first floor balcony gave a perfect view of the Catherdral. Underneath us is a cafe bar that makes great G&Ts complete with a local guitarist who plays traditional spanish music ( fortunately not late at night!).
The apartments owner Joan is away so we have this very modern and beautifully renovated apartment to ourselves. I love Airbnb!
Obviously the place to start was to stagger up the 90 steps of the Cathedral and have a look inside. It was a magnificent Cathedral with enormous vaulted stone ceilings, beautiful cloisters, a bell tower ( whch fortunately does not mark every hour during the night but starts at 5am!) and a treasury with some pretty impressive ornaments and statues. It was originally a Roman church and was remodelled to its current size and state over many centuries.
Then we followed twisting cobbled pathways, endless stone steps and even some metal spiral staircases to wind our way to the very top of the medieval embattlements along the old solid city wall. Along the way there were serene green gardens to rest before yet more steps.
The view was definitely worth the effort. It's always amazing to see how solid and thick the city walls were in medieval days. At the highest points there were small slots in the stone walls to check the enemy's progress and point a weapon if needed.
The new University of Girona is built high on this hill so the students must be fit!
After hours of wandering around we finally returned to the cafe and had a well earned G&T! It seems they always serve them with lots of ice (and a lot of gin!) in a huge wine glass: just heaven after doing the sights.
We decided to go to our 'local'shops down the hill to buy some provisions for dinner. The delicatessen had an overwhelming array of meats and salami and jamon ( ham) and pancetta and... every sort of meat imaginable! I ended up buying some salami, green olives with garlic and some cheeses all of which proved to be delicious, but safe choices. I will have to be brave and try some of the interesting dried sausages and meats next time! Next was some wine and tomatoes followed by white crusty bread and a custard pastry which we enjoyed looking out at the well-lit Cathedral.
A lovely end to a fascinating day.
your slightly worn out but well-fed correspondent
Dianne
No comments:
Post a Comment