Spain 4 - Girona

Saturday April 6

The day to meet family we have not seen in many years. Right from the beginning when we knew we were going to Barcelona it was clear that we wanted to meet up with James’ nephew Francis and family. We had not seen them in many years. 

We know that young people, especially parents with school-age children, have a lot to juggle. But thanks to email and texting it was determined that Saturday would be the best day.

But how to do it? We could have taken a taxi but why if the 24 hours for the Hop-on were not over yet?

Weather-wise it didn’t look quite as nice as the days before. We headed out in good time to find a Hop-on station for the red line which stops at the train station Sans. 

By now we are quite good with the walking of these streets. It was short before 10 though when we were at the right stop. The driver told us that it would take about 20 minutes to Sans. 

At the Sans! Crossing the street. 

Oh my, buying the train tickets was a totally different story. Walking in we could not see any ticket counters so we asked a security person. We got the answer and found the counter. The lady just said that the best value was the high speed and go to windows 17-21. 

We found those. There were people at them and some people milling around but no line. When a window was free I stepped up but was chastised because I had no number und pointed to a machine. 

Of course the machine liked Spanish best but I found a little British/US flag on the screen which let me change that. I had the choice of 4 different options. Mine was that I wanted tickets for today and it gave me a number. 

Our number was called not too long after and the gentleman at window 21 gave me a very high price, no senior tickets without a certain card etc. and he sent us to windows 3,4, or 5 for a slower train. 

Wow, was that line long. No way! But there were also some great big orange ticket machines. Let’s have a try. 

First we looked over somebody’s shoulder who used it but it was all in Spanish. To make a long story short: we figured it out (found the little flag for English again) and got our tickets for a slower train. 

When we looked at the tickets though we could not see for what train it was (just to where) so I went up to the point again at the machine where I could see the train details and take a photo and then cancel. All was good!

We had now finally time for breakfast. 

Found the platform and there comes the train. 

A few photos out of the window. 

Finally Girona!

Well, but where to go? I opened google map and saw a tourist info office. Great. That’s what we decided to head for. It wasn’t a very long walk and heading towards a river pleased us as always. 

Since it was Saturday there was something going on there. People were singing and waving. No idea why. 

The tourist office was helpful. We got a map and headed towards the ancient city wall one can walk on. This was the beginning of it in the East. 

It was very, very lovely. We enjoyed it very much. And the view over the city and towards the mountains was so nice. 

We decided though that we didn’t need to go the whole way. We had agreed to meet Francis and Mayte at 3 pm and we were so thirsty. Water is only satisfying so much. 

We found a place were we could get off the wall and down to a street. It was sloping very much and made with stones (the old fashioned way when horses needed good footing).  

Not far there was a good stop to get a beer, a place called “Campus”. 

We sat down and just then I got a text “Hi, we’re here. Ready to meet. Where are you?” and I answered “We just came off a bit of the wall. Sitting down at “Campus” for a beer.” 

One Minute later there they were because they happened to be just around the corner when Francis had texted. How are the chances of that? What a HALLO it was.

We decided this was as good a place at any and ordered drinks and tapas for all. We were chatting too excited to think of those photos but here are some afterwards. 

Yes, “postres” … with 4 spoons. 

Francis and Mayte showed us a bit around. James and I found the Cathedral quite unusual. The size was very imposing. I can’t remember seeing any pews. As always there was so much art work to see. 

Wandering through the narrow streets was much fun. Girona has a lot of charm. 

But then it was time for us to go back to Barcelona. Francis and Mayte brought us back to the train station and it was a big help when they ordered our tickets. We were asked for IDs (our driver’s licenses) and got a very good price. We were led to a different building for the high speed train. 

From the Sans station we took a taxi and had some refreshments in the hotel. We chatted with a French couple and a couple from NC (North Carolina) which will also be on the ship tomorrow. All good fun.