The streets felt ancient, the arches cinematic, and the stairways strangely familiar – as if Arya Stark might appear at any moment with Needle in hand. 😉 Girona was part fantasy, part flowers, and completely fabulous! That is – after we turned in the rental car! ha!

Disclaimer. If you want to rent a car in Europe, just know you will have moments when you rethink that fabulous plan. Like when you have to navigate tiny streets during Temps de Flors, a flower festival that happened to be going on the day we arrived in Girona and normal routes are completely changed… and when you have to navigate parking “garages”… BUT if those are the only hiccups on an otherwise fantastic journey then two thumbs up – go for it!

Back to the flowers!!!! So we didn’t actually realize that Temps de Flors was going to be happening until we were making our way to the Eiffel bridge and it was blocked off and only would allow one way pedestrians. We had just come from all of these sleepy, coastal villages and were all of a sudden surrounded by medieval walls, people everywhere, and the most incredible floral displays adorning all of the main attractions around the city. It was a culture shock to say the least, but so exciting!

If you are a Game of Thrones fan, you will geek out to know this is where season 6 was filmed, and it only takes one glance to realize exactly why that was. You truly just feel like you are transported in time!

We spent our day mainly in the Barri Vell (Old Town) and visited the place de la Catedral, Arab baths, City walls, Cathedral of Girona, Eiffel bridge and Jewish Quarter to name a few. Even though it was crowded it was very easy to navigate and we got a great dose of history as well as art with all of the beautiful arrangements throughout the city.

Google Maps has been our main choice of maps to get around when in Europe, and for the most part it is right on, but just know, if you are trying to map to the City Walls, so that you can climb up them and walk along the actual wall, then google might think you want an element of surprise, and take you on a path that is not exactly a real path, but rather a surprise-attack path.

Oh, you will get there, but you might shock some people when you emerge out of the bushes!

I know you were wondering if we were going to have a better pastry on the trip, and let me tell you, there is a definite winner in Girona! The XUIXO. Golden, flaky, and filled with crema de Catalana. Like the best cream filled donut you have EVER had – crunchy but light – savory and lightly sweet at once. I just can’t. It was such a treat and I am not so patiently waiting until we get to have it again!

We stayed at Hotel Nord which was about a 15 minute walk from the train station and perfect for our stay as well as being conveniently located to all of Old Town. The early morning walk to the train station was easy and quiet, and at 6:36am on the dot we were pulling out of the train station, ready for a new rhythm… tapas, terrazas and the unmistakable pulse of Madrid!

Peace, Love and Fabulous!