Tuesday, August 29, 2006

So you want to go to Spain - Girona

I got my hands on a rather nice and glossy magazine titled Top Girona, available also online. If you want to explore this area of Catalonia from Costa Brava to the Pyrenees, you should check it out.

While Girona is a city in itself, this magazine covers the entire area of Catalonia, marking some of the must-see sites such as the Botanical Garden Marimurta of Blanes, the terrace of Can Batlle in Calella de Palafrugell (a favorite hang-out place for local writer Javier Cercas), Hotel AC Palau de Bellavista, Restaurant La Cuina de Can Pipes, El Bulli restaurante, the social club "Golf Fontanals de Cerdanya," Rafael Maso's architecture,

Do not forget to try some of the local Saint John's Day Cake, the food in the county of Olot, the rope soled shoes of Cristina Castanera, or celebrate during the Procession of the Virgin del Carmen in L'Escala (and other towns on the Girona coast such as: Llanca, Roses, Palamos, Castello d'Empuries, Sant Feliu de Guixols, and Cadaques) .

Of course, you can make Girona part of a longer trip through Spain, either by train or by car:

Spanish Sepharad - Madrid, Cordoba, Barcelona and Girona with the Ave and Talgo trains.

Jewish Heritage - Barcelona, Girona, Cordoba, Toledo, Segovia and Madrid by rail and rent a car.