Barcelona Day 3 - A Side Trip to Girona

When The Wife was planning the itinerary for our vacation, she initially had plans to visit the Montserrat Monastery.  The site is known for it's shrine, choir music, and hiking trails with great mountain views.  The choir was off on break, the trails would be freezing this time of year, and we were tired of seeing endless religious buildings.  Therefore, we scratched Montserrat.  We considered visiting the tiny country of Andorra that is known for its tax-free shopping, but it was a little too far a a day trip. Instead, we decided to visit Girona, a quaint town of 100,000 people north of Barcelona.  Historically, this Catalan city has been besieged and sacked multiple times by the Moors.

Getting to Girona was pretty easy via a high speed train that took only 38 minutes.  We had taken one of the early trains, so by the time that we arrived, the town was still pretty quiet.  Plus, it was a weekend too.  The Kids couldn't resist stopping at a playground along our route.

At his size, The Boy looked ridiculous riding the playground zip line.

We meandered along passing shops and merchants setting up for a weekend market.

Eventually, we reached the Onyar River which cuts through the center of the city.  One of the iconic images of Girona is the brightly-colored houses that line the river.  Several bridges traverse the Onyar providing picturesque views.

This red bridge was designed by Gustave Eiffel prior to building the Parisian tower that bears his name.

Once we crossed to the historic side of the city, the streets became more winding and narrow.  The
first point of interest that we encountered was the Pujada de Sant Domenec.  Basically it's a long set of stairs and arch that leads to the church of the convent of St. Marti.

Although the town was mainly deserted, there was already a queue of tourists waiting to take their photograph at this site.  Several scenes for the Game of Thrones series was filmed in Girona.  Apparently, these steps were the location of one such notable scene.  I had yet to get past the first season of the series so it meant nothing to me.  However, the location is worth visiting even for non GOT fans.

We kept walking and encountering more and more sets of steps until we finally reached the old city walls.

We saw other people walking atop them but we couldn't find the entrance to get up there.  After searching for about 20 minutes, we finally found the entrance and climbed the stairways up.

While some areas of the wall are in disrepair, there is a long segment that spans several towers and is fully intact.  We walked atop of the walls getting a good view of the surrounding town.

Getting down from the walls can be a little tougher if you have bad knees.

Once we reached the end, we headed over to the Girona Cathedral.  Luckily, The Wife did not insist on going inside.  We did walk up the long grand staircase and enjoyed the statues on the outer facade.

We wandered around to other areas in the historic section of Girona, taking in the scenery.

Game of Thrones was also filmed at this square known as the Plaça dels Jurats.

This nearby bridge was also the photography subject of many GOT fans.

There was no lack of enthusiasm from the locals in expressing solidarity for Catalan separation from the rest of Spain.

By early afternoon, we were pretty hungry from all the walking.  Girona is a bit of a culinary hot spot, being the home of one of the top restaurants in the world--El Celler de Can Roca.  Hence, there are several other high end restaurants in the city offering creative twists on Catalan cuisine.  Many of the restaurants required advanced reservations.  With our last-minute decision to visit Girona, we neglected to consider dining options.  After striking out at several busy eateries, we were able to snag a table for the six of us at a restaurant called Llevataps.

They had a lunch tasting menu which sounded interesting, but it would have taken us way too long.  Instead, we ordered a variety of interesting-sounding dishes.  The entrees were definitely pricey for the amount of food.  We knew that we were paying for their avant-garde twists on traditional cuisine.  Nevertheless, the petite four-bite eel entree left me wanting.

Vegetable soup for a palate cleanser.

Coca bread with tomato, oil, and salt

Scallops with artichokes

"Oxtail "Royal"--stuffed with scallops, with a prawn

Boneless suckling pig with beer and smoked cheese

"The eel that wanted to be rib"

After our late lunch, we headed back to the station to catch our train back to Barcelona.  There was still plenty of light left over in the late afternoon, so we walked over to the nearby Plaza de Espana.  Many of the major roads through Barcelona convene at this important center of town. 

Many of the nearby structures such as the Venetian Towers and the National Palace were built for the 1929 International Exhibition.

Also near the Plaza de Espana is the Arenas de Barcelona.  This former bullfighting arena has been converted into a shopping center.

After a short rest back at our apartment, we had to face the daunting task of finding a place to eat dinner in Barcelona without a reservation.  Luckily, we stumbled across a chain restaurant called La Paredeta.

Even with our non-existent Spanish, this low-frills restaurant is simple to figure out.  The seafood is displayed at the entrance.

We just pointed out what we wanted and how we wanted it cooked.  After selecting our beverages and paying, we found an empty table in the dining area in the back.

We picked up our entrees from a counter as soon as they were finished cooking.  There were no waiters and we bused our own tables.

Cañaíllas - cooked sea snails

Grilled octopus

Fried monkfish tail

Xanguet fregit (fried transparent goby) and fried baby squid

Grilled razor clams with salsa verde

Cooked prawns with salsa verde

This would be one of the best meals we would have in Barcelona.  The seafood was fresh.  The food was cooked simply so it retained its natural flavors (the salsa verde was the only seasoning that was offered and it was awesome).  And there was no fussiness over the service.