.....Especially when the bed and breakfast is so inviting and the weather outside is so NOT.
We awoke to our first rainy day, not gray, not even just light drizzle, but rain that was forecast all day long. At breakfast we asked Jordi for suggestions for a rainy day that really called for cuddling up on a sofa with a big cup of coffee and a good book.
He thought for a second and said ‘Go to Girona, it is so beautiful with chic stores, and it isn’t going to be too rainy’. I asked about parking and he provided clear directions to the free public lot near the cathedral and said ‘It won’t be crowded at all on Tuesday in the rain but if it is, there is a cheap pay lot just on the other side of the roundabout’. This may be the last time we take Jordi’s well-intentioned advice. We piled on a few layers of tee shirts and sweaters, added a scarf, pulled out our as yet unused raincoats and set out in 57 degree temperature.
The only condition I put on our day was NO LUNCH, not no big lunch but NO lunch at all. We had requested Jordi to scale back breakfast this morning but we still had a bit of toast, some cheese and a small yogurt. Since this was our last night here, I wanted to have a lovely dinner and knew I needed to skip lunch. I also knew that one of the Roca brothers (there are three of them and they own the #1 restaurant in the world in Girona called El Celler Can Roca, which you must book the first day reservations open, which is 11 months in advance) had a gelato place that garnered raves both for the quality and the interesting toppings. That would suffice for lunch.
We arrived in Girona and found the parking....us and about ten other cars circling a large lot which was clearly full. We found the next lot, happy to pay, but that also was, as the sign flashed, complete. We drove the neighborhood streets up and down with not a free spot in sight-and it was still raining. Finally in desperation we tried the first lot again and voila, a large vehicle working hard to fit into a small spot gave up and we got it. Now, a word about parking lots here.
The spots are incredibly small. The aisles are close together. You have to be a great parker to get in and out of these spots. Steve managed to squeeze in, just barely, with the back end of the car at the very edge of the aisle and we hopped out hoping we wouldn’t get hit. You may recall from past blogs we have had numerous rental adventures (read damages).
We head out to the town, trodding in the rain, to the Cathedral, another version of the one in Ken Follet’s Pillars of the Earth. After a peek, we decide against the entry with audio guide for 10 Euro and head into the pedestrian only old town. We stop here and there, mainly to get out of the rain. We ducked into a toy store that specialized in old fashioned toys that we remember from our childhood like wind up tin toys, music boxes and that walking toy made up of a stick with a metal drum that rolls as you push and plays a jingly song. If I had taken a photo, you would instantly remember it. We make a few purchases along with every other grandparent in the shop though we could have spent hours and hundreds of dollars easily.
While I go in and out of a few clothing stores, Steve is busy on his phone looking for a LUNCH SPOT - did he not hear me? He finds one he swears has only very light food and is only a 15 minute walk....in the rain. About halfway there I ask if he is sure it is open, and he double checks, and yes, it says open until 4:00. We approach and from 25’ away it looks dark, from 5’ away we clearly see the grates are down and no one is home. This is Spain where opening and closing hours,and days have proven to be more of a suggestion or hope than a reality. We do find a spot not far away (I agree to have lunch because there is nothing else to do and we are wet and cold) and our small lunch turns into a three course meal for Steve and a small omelet and glass of white wine for me.
I try to speak Spanish to the waiter who immediately knows it is not my native language and he responds to me in French, unknowingly flattering me and feeding into my Francophilia. Ultimately we all speak English and I realize I am glad English is the common language for everyone. At the table of three next to us one man is German, one man is French and the woman is clearly Spanish. They also all speak English to communicate with each other. Lunch has warmed us up and revived us, and so, even though I am full,I am not going to give up a small taste of the famous gelato, especially since it is on the way back to the parking lot.
We find this rather small unimpressive store where I expect to choose from interesting, even bizarre, flavors of gelato served from what we think of as a down the shore frozen custard machine. There are five flavors; nothing exciting. There a bunch of more interesting toppings.
I pick vanilla gelato (yes, really) and large, bright kelly green flakes of crunchy basil caramel. There is even a small cotton candy machine where they will freshly spin a small blob for the top of your cone. With baited breath I taste. It’s good, it’s creamy, the flakes are a bit interesting....and that’s it. Steve thinks the gelato is quite good. I don’t even finish the most famous gelato in the world. Sometimes famous things are just hype. Google the NYT article about this store and you would have wanted to go too.
We are done, ready to go home and read a book. As we approach the car there is no damage and Steve is happy. As we back out of what was already a tight spot made tighter by the large camper-van parked across the tiny aisle with a big bike rack and two bikes....well, now there’s damage. Steve collects the piece of broken tailight on the ground and gets in the car unhappily as I am hysterical laughing. I think even he sees the humor a tiny, tiny bit in our continuing misadventures with Hertz. Heading home we stop at the store to buy crazy glue and just hope it stops raining enough before we leave tomorrow to do an admirable job of gluing it all back together. Around 6PM Steve looks at me and starts to open his mouth and before he can say anything I simply say, No, I am not going out to dinner.
He thought for a second and said ‘Go to Girona, it is so beautiful with chic stores, and it isn’t going to be too rainy’. I asked about parking and he provided clear directions to the free public lot near the cathedral and said ‘It won’t be crowded at all on Tuesday in the rain but if it is, there is a cheap pay lot just on the other side of the roundabout’. This may be the last time we take Jordi’s well-intentioned advice. We piled on a few layers of tee shirts and sweaters, added a scarf, pulled out our as yet unused raincoats and set out in 57 degree temperature.
The only condition I put on our day was NO LUNCH, not no big lunch but NO lunch at all. We had requested Jordi to scale back breakfast this morning but we still had a bit of toast, some cheese and a small yogurt. Since this was our last night here, I wanted to have a lovely dinner and knew I needed to skip lunch. I also knew that one of the Roca brothers (there are three of them and they own the #1 restaurant in the world in Girona called El Celler Can Roca, which you must book the first day reservations open, which is 11 months in advance) had a gelato place that garnered raves both for the quality and the interesting toppings. That would suffice for lunch.
We arrived in Girona and found the parking....us and about ten other cars circling a large lot which was clearly full. We found the next lot, happy to pay, but that also was, as the sign flashed, complete. We drove the neighborhood streets up and down with not a free spot in sight-and it was still raining. Finally in desperation we tried the first lot again and voila, a large vehicle working hard to fit into a small spot gave up and we got it. Now, a word about parking lots here.
The spots are incredibly small. The aisles are close together. You have to be a great parker to get in and out of these spots. Steve managed to squeeze in, just barely, with the back end of the car at the very edge of the aisle and we hopped out hoping we wouldn’t get hit. You may recall from past blogs we have had numerous rental adventures (read damages).
 |
| ...It could be worse; I could be this guy......... |
We head out to the town, trodding in the rain, to the Cathedral, another version of the one in Ken Follet’s Pillars of the Earth. After a peek, we decide against the entry with audio guide for 10 Euro and head into the pedestrian only old town. We stop here and there, mainly to get out of the rain. We ducked into a toy store that specialized in old fashioned toys that we remember from our childhood like wind up tin toys, music boxes and that walking toy made up of a stick with a metal drum that rolls as you push and plays a jingly song. If I had taken a photo, you would instantly remember it. We make a few purchases along with every other grandparent in the shop though we could have spent hours and hundreds of dollars easily.
While I go in and out of a few clothing stores, Steve is busy on his phone looking for a LUNCH SPOT - did he not hear me? He finds one he swears has only very light food and is only a 15 minute walk....in the rain. About halfway there I ask if he is sure it is open, and he double checks, and yes, it says open until 4:00. We approach and from 25’ away it looks dark, from 5’ away we clearly see the grates are down and no one is home. This is Spain where opening and closing hours,and days have proven to be more of a suggestion or hope than a reality. We do find a spot not far away (I agree to have lunch because there is nothing else to do and we are wet and cold) and our small lunch turns into a three course meal for Steve and a small omelet and glass of white wine for me.
 |
| Steve’s Starter of scrambled eggs, with stuff.... |
I try to speak Spanish to the waiter who immediately knows it is not my native language and he responds to me in French, unknowingly flattering me and feeding into my Francophilia. Ultimately we all speak English and I realize I am glad English is the common language for everyone. At the table of three next to us one man is German, one man is French and the woman is clearly Spanish. They also all speak English to communicate with each other. Lunch has warmed us up and revived us, and so, even though I am full,I am not going to give up a small taste of the famous gelato, especially since it is on the way back to the parking lot.
We find this rather small unimpressive store where I expect to choose from interesting, even bizarre, flavors of gelato served from what we think of as a down the shore frozen custard machine. There are five flavors; nothing exciting. There a bunch of more interesting toppings.
We are done, ready to go home and read a book. As we approach the car there is no damage and Steve is happy. As we back out of what was already a tight spot made tighter by the large camper-van parked across the tiny aisle with a big bike rack and two bikes....well, now there’s damage. Steve collects the piece of broken tailight on the ground and gets in the car unhappily as I am hysterical laughing. I think even he sees the humor a tiny, tiny bit in our continuing misadventures with Hertz. Heading home we stop at the store to buy crazy glue and just hope it stops raining enough before we leave tomorrow to do an admirable job of gluing it all back together. Around 6PM Steve looks at me and starts to open his mouth and before he can say anything I simply say, No, I am not going out to dinner.
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