Snogging a Lion

Paloma, is still in the fantastic free area de camper in Caldes de Malavella ( N41.839290 E2.811700) , she is still enjoying the free parking and free electric, but we are rapidly approaching the 72 hour max, so we will have to move on.

When we arrived here, all the pitches were full so after a chat with the nice German man, we parked up whilst he finished packing up, whilst we slipped our coffee another English van arrived and after a short chat with Ann, we knew it was a nice town and her advise that we could catch the train to Girona was taken up.

Just a short walk down the road we found the train station and for €2.50 each we caught the train towards Catalonia second city, Girona.

I think we were both instantly enchanted by the ancient maze-like covered passageways and the melodic church bells that herald the passing of time each day,

What’s more, owing to the city’s compact size and pedestrian-friendly old town, it’s possible to explore Girona’s myriad layers in a short period of time making a day-trip here a delightful experience, you can literally spend hours getting lost and wandering around the beautiful narrow cobbled streets, discovering hidden courtyards and medieval buildings.

And then there are the bridges which criss cross the river, Girona’s unmistakable riverfront quickly captivated us, its red and yellow buildings nicely pairing with the Catalan flags that adorn the region at every corner.

Surrounding the town are some amazing walls and thanks to the great hint from the lady in the tourist office, we set off in search of the city’s medieval walls, the ‘Passeig de la Muralla’.

Parts of the 14th century walls and towers were destroyed during the late-19th century to allow the city to expand. The missing parts have since been reconstructed and these days, it’s possible to walk along the walls and enjoy the views of the city and the surrounding countryside.The path around the walls can be a bit of a climb in certain places but the views from the wall and the towers certainly made the effort more than worthwhile. We could see almost the entire city, including the city’s iconic Cathedral.

The path ends behind Girona’s imposing Cathedral. Construction of the Cathedral started in the 11th century on the foundations of an ancient Roman temple and continued for many centuries and now this building dominates the sky line of the city.

Last but not least – Girona is home to a rather famous lion statue.  You’re supposed to climb the platform and give it a smooch on its bum if you want to return to Girona – so I volunteered Michele for the photo op….

Paul.

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