Day 56: Girona to Barcelona

October 21, 2023

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We had to carry the bikes over steps to the nearest laneway, but we had loved our spot for the night, with the stone walls and high ceiling. It was then easy to make our way to the train station, to carry out our plan of not having to cycle through any outskirts of Barcelona.

On the way to the station the usually not so keen eyed Steve spotted the Lion Market. This had been on the list of places to see, but we had missed it yesterday. The Lion Market, Dodie surmised, was named for a column topped by a lion carving nearby.

We went in one and then the other for a look at the market. It was great, and with an understandable emphasis on fish. I like that, because it is sort of like going to an aquarium.

There are overflow fruit and vegetable vendors outside. Dodie made the mistake of delegating me to buy some plums here. I came back with plums, oranges, a giant peach, and an even bigger and heavier pomegranate. I think she did ok, because after all, plums did come back! In Northern Europe this month is people buy most fresh produce it will be coming from Spain. But hey, we are IN Spain. How cool is that!

We must be near Portugal, because I could smell the bacalau as soon as I entered the market.

This was a full on terrific covered market.

If we lived here, we would grow strong and healthy on stuff like this.

Here comes a local city tour group. They swooped by and carried on. It would be better to be able to stop at a place like this.

The lion column, commemorates war dead in battling Napoleon. There are some officers buried in tombs beneath the column.

Not sure what this lion's expression is.

At the station we saw that strange hat building again. But this shot was to illustrate some of what Girona looks like beyond the old city. We have grown fond of the place in two days, but to live here we would want to be in, or nearer, the old town.

Dodie had a super easy time at the ticket window, paying just 22 euros for us both with the bikes, and having a train leaving in twenty minutes.

It's never all that great taking a train with bikes, and certainly we did have to speed down the platform to reach a car with the bike symbol, contend with people and other cyclists trying to get in, and find an only half satisfactory place to lean the bikes for the trip. And of course we had to stand with the bikes, to keep them from flying when the train would lurch.

Our only other slight worry was not knowing Barcelona, and with that not knowing which of possibly several stations would be best to get off at. This didn't bother us much, though, because we knew that once back on our own wheels we could make our way to wherever quite handily. (Just writing this, it does occur to me that confidence in being able to get anywhere is kind of a Europe thing. There are cities we know in North America where getting off at the wrong spot could lead to tough problems of being blocked by big roads or bridges. I guess we can add Frankfurt and even Innsbruck to that list. But anyway, we were fine in Barcelona.)

Of course right out of the station we were trying to get a sense of what the city might be like, and the initial view was of wide roads and nondescript tall buildings. Quite quickly we did get onto one very wide boulevard (Gran Via de las Cortes Catalanes), flanked by not ugly but not wow, eight story buildings. This boulevard went on for what seemed like a very long distance, making me think that this must be the major street of town. But no, looking at it later showed that grand street to be just one of many.

Streets were broad. We found bike lanes everywhere!

The arena like building was the first interesting structure we encountered.

A big city can muster lots of people at an intersection.

It was an easy cruise to our hotel, which was close to Segrada Familia.

After dropping our bikes and gear, we decided to walk first to the Segrada Familia. We have all day in town tomorrow, and we will use that to look up some of the other sites. Segrada Familia, the church dedicated to the holy family and started by Antoni Gaudi in 1883 is probably the premier tourist attraction in Spain. It has a fascinating history and a lot to be said about its design and execution. Even the Wiki article on it is much fun to read. Lots of Cycleblaze writers have covered the Segrada Familia admirably. One good one is the Bartlett's from 2018. That is worth checking out, especially for a look inside.

We walked in the Segrada Familia's direction, again not yet noting any narrow stone streets or the like, though there were some pretty buildings, like the one below.

We turned a corner. and there appeared our first look at the "thing".

We like to zoom in on angel and bird statues atop buildings. These were weird.

As we drew nearer, more of the design began to reveal itself. However the design elements are so many and so varied that it's hard to get a grip on what the whole structure is really like. As we walked around it, moreover, it's spirit seemed to change, from flamboyant - with "fruit" hanging on the towers, to rather morose, with some dull and dense carving work oozing down the walls, it seemed to me. All statues representing people seemed angular - very angular - and morose as well. It was impossible to get a sense of what this building was trying to tell us. I was rather tickled by the gay fruit ideas, which were on the side we approached at first, but Dodie was not tickled. She thought the whole thing "tacky", and was using references to kids decorating cakes or gingerbread houses with sprinkles. For the fruit, the image of a Carmen Miranda (Portuguese/Brazilian) fruit hat came most to her mind:

Some small bits are almost traditional gothic

We noticed this palm in a small park beside the church. It seemed nature was trying to compete in "gaudiness".

Just beside the church was the phenomenon of the fast food companies lining up, no doubt to absorb the throngs of visitors.

Looking beyond the fast food lineup, we could hardly miss the crowds of people on an adjoining street. It turned out that a Halloween only market was being held, and it extended for many blocks. Wow! Fun!

The stalls did not have fish or vegetables, but favoured street food, cheese, dry sausage, dried fruit, cooked sausage, and even paella, plus many craft items. This is so terrific, and we had just happened to hit it!

Fuet is the most popular cured sausage in Catalonia.

The Ballearic Islands, which include Mallorca, are off the coast here. We are thinking to include them when we return to cycle here in February.

We love dried candied fruits like this. 10 euros only bought a small bag.

These empanadas were wonderfully seasoned. They were really a gourmet version.

The CS is carne suave - the not spicy beef ones.

This was cheesecake and other layered or rolled cheesecake-like products.

This was a very big BBQ stall, with ribs, chicken, and paella.

Lots of people managed to line up and then enjoy the BBQ.

It would be fun to come back to this market and to give the Segrada Familia another chance tomorrow, but there is lots else to see in this town, so maybe not.

Walking back to the hotel, we encountered this. No it is not a new tower for the Segrada Familia, but it's close!

Today's ride: 10 km (6 miles)
Total: 2,852 km (1,771 miles)

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