"Definitely worth the visit!" Girona by mikey_e

My first trip to Girona was in November, 2005, when my mother came to visit me in Barcelona. I had heard that the city was pretty and that it was worth the one and a half hour train ride from Barcelona, but I didn't really have any plans to visit it while I lived in Barcelona. My mother, who obviously made a point of reading up on everything there was to do on her visit, insisted that we go to see it. The city certainly did not disappoint our expectations. It was a crisp, clear day and, although we had to do a bit of navigation to find our way through the less enchanting modern city, we easily found the River Onyar and the picturesque old city that has made this town northwest of Barcelona so famous among tourists.

Girona's skyline

Perhaps the only problem that we encountered in Girona is the step climb that is required to make it to the Call jueu and the majority of the old city attractions. Its not, obviously, a hike up a mountain, but the incline and the cobblestone streets can make it rather difficult for those with hip and knee problems to make it all at one go. Nevertheless, the streets are well preserves, with many of the shops kept in the sort of style you'd associate more with 1920's Paris than a Roman town in central Catalunya. Many of the boutiques specialize in things like artisan pastries and confectionary, figurines, liquers and dry good and handicraft clothing. Surprisingly, everything is done is such a way that the town does not at all feel like a tourist trap (i.e. its quite a change from Sitges or many of the coastal towns). Rather, everything is carefully managed to ensure that the visitor quickly feels as though he or she has entered a time warp.

The Cathedral from below on a December afternoon

I so enjoy the trip that I took with my mother to Girona that, about 6 weeks later, while I was on Christmas vacation and burning some time before my flight back to Canada, I decided to take another trip to Girona. Catalans don't put on a big, long show for the holiday season (at least not of the length of North American Christmas) but Girona does like to highlight a few of Catalonia's unique traditions. One is the number of shops that sell caganers, small statues of men or women, er, relieving themselves. They sound quite crude but they are very much a part of Catalan tradition and have a very long history. More than that, everyone who is anyone has been portrayed as a caganer - from the King and Queen to Ronaldinho. There are plenty of other traditions to take part in, especially Christmas sweets (I heartly enjoyed that part of Catalan Christmas!). In all, the holiday season helps to heighten the sense of enchantment and wonder of this spectacular town.