Friday, March 25, 2011

Girona

Girona was the last of our Spanish adventure. It took me days to get the song "My Sharona" out of my head. Ok, almost out of my head. Arghhh! Just sang it again.

It looks so much like Florence, Italy, especially along the river. The next three pictures say "Italy!"


That's either a spaceship, or the Collegiate Church of Sant Feliu in the background.

But then again, maybe I'm just projecting because I want to go back to Italy asap!

The coolest thing we did was walk the old wall. It was originally built in the 1st century, then completely rebuilt in the 16th century. Eventually the city grew too big, and most of the wall was torn down.

Walking to the wall.

The oldest part of the wall.

View across the river to another part of the newer wall.





Views from the wall:



Such a hodgepodge of buildings!


A long way down!

Slot for shooting arrows at the invaders.

Ye olde crapper on the wall.

Word to the peasants: don't walk too close to the outside of the walls.


The other day, while walking around Figueres, we found this. What do you suppose it is?


Wrong, it's a bread sculpture ( one of hundreds) on the Salvador Dali Museum walls.

Apparently one can buy a pig's leg in the grocery stores in Spain.

Happy couple in a Spanish restaurant having a pizza (me) and spaghetti bolognese (Kirsty). Sometimes one has to tempt the food Gods. Delicious!

Peace!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

The Castell de Sant Ferran


The fort above the town of Figueres offers sweeping views of the Mediterranean coast and the Pyrenees.  Built in the 18th Century to protect Spain against the French, the complex housed over 6,000 soldiers. Named after King Fernando VI, the installation has an outer diameter of about 2 miles and covers a total of 80 acres. The fort is an irregular octagon which is surrounded by a double wall, and has numerous bastions, moats, and drawbridges.

The cisterns located under the parade ground are particularly surprising, storing a supply of 9 million gallons of water (the catacombs can be explored by boat). It is the largest building in Catalonia and the biggest bastion fort built in Europe in the 18th century. In 1927, Salvador DalĂ­ did his military service in the Castell de Sant Ferran.








 Ye olde toilet.



 The stone work is exceptional!














 Deer catching some rays.






 These underground stables held 500 horses!

 The church.


 Beautiful view of the Pyrenees!


A large part of the compound was out of bounds, but what we could see was most impressive! Definitely a must see if you get to this neck of the woods.

Peace, my friends!