SPAIN 2026
We picked up our car, and squeezed it out of the parking stall, then drove over to the Zaragoza train station, where we traded it in for a train ticket to Barcelona.
Barcelona... again
For our second stop in Barcelona, I found a little condo in a different part of Barcelona convenient to the train station. This would give us a chance to explore some different areas for our last few days
Wednesday
The next morning we headed over to the train for a little daytrip to the Northern town of Girona.
Girona
Less than an hour by high speed train, Girona is a historic city in northeastern Spain, only 50 minutes from the French border. Founded as the Roman fortress Gerunda in 77 BC, it later evolved into a vibrant medieval hub with strong Visigothic, Moorish, and Frankish influences. Known as the "City of a Thousand Sieges," it boasts heavily fortified ramparts and a renowned Jewish heritage.
What we didn't realize is that we arrived during Girona’s Temp de Flors celebration. Throughout the entire city are flower displays. If you thought Disneyland was bad with crowds, this was like a geriatric version of Disneyworld.
The iconic red bridge in Girona, Spain, is the Eiffel Bridge (officially known as Pont de les Peixateries Velles). Built in 1877 by the company of Gustave Eiffel, it crosses the Onyar River and offers stunning views of the city's famous colorful riverside houses.
Flower displays were everywhere, but one of the kids favourite displays was this marionette jester, spinning and tumbling over the center of the street.
Barcelona's famous squatting poopers were taken to another level at this Girona shop.
The Collegiate Church of St. Felix (Collegiata de Sant Feliu) is a basilica constructed from the 12th century until the 17th century.
There is a fence setup to prevent people from going up the flowered staircase. A group of
late teens are lined up along it, so I have to raise my camera to take these pictures. One
of the teens turns around towards the crowd, and whips it out, the guy just starts
pissing! Apparently he's not quite right, as his caretaker is yelling "No Bubby!", people
are getting splashed, old ladies are screaming and gasping. We just got away from the
splash zone as quickly as we could...
Things you don't expect to see in a historic Spanish town.
Esglesia de Sant Lluc has an interesting display of Roman armour and standards, and of course, flowers.
The Cathedral of Saint Mary has the widest Gothic nave in the world, with a width of 23 metres (75 ft). Its construction was begun in the 11th century in the Romanesque architectural style, and continued in the 13th century in the Gothic style. More importantly though, this cathedral was used for HBO's Game of Thrones, standing in for the Great Sept house in Kings Landing.
Currently, the Girona wall has 4 access points and it’s possible to walk along its ramparts. The first sections of this wall date back to the 1st century BC, coinciding with the Roman foundation of Gerunda. Some studies even suggest it may have been built over remains of an earlier Iberian wall. While still under Roman presence, this wall was reinforced several times to defend against invaders.
We didn't spend the entire day walking the full length of the walls, but we sure got a great taste of these historic landmarks, and the views over the countryside and Girona city, that they provide.
Sant Martí Sacosta is a historic Baroque-style church located in the Barri Vell (Old Town) of Girona, Spain. Originally dating back to the 9th century, it is famous for its grand stone staircase and iconic architectural backdrop, which was also featured as a filming location in HBO's Game of Thrones as the markets in Braavos where an injured Arya ran away from the waif overturning baskets of oranges. Luckily for us, no one tried to pee on us here.
There's a bit of a line to go inside this historic church, we are expecting to see an old church with pews and an alter. Instead we are greeted by the sounds of music, and Thunder and Lightning. Not sure if it's part of the festival, or something else, but now it is an indoor light show.
With the massive crowds, we decide to work our way back towards the train station, but not before seeing some more crazy flower festival displays.
We went into a little restaurant for lunch, when we came out it was pouring rain. Good time to make the soggy walk back to the train, at least our feet and pant legs were only wet from torrential rain, it could have been much worse.
The high speed train took no time to get us back to Barcelona, where it was no longer raining.
One of the things that I really enjoyed walking through the residential neighborhoods of Spain, was the variety of artwork decorating peoples garages. Sometimes you knew what was behind the doors, sometimes you knew what they wish was behind the doors, and other times it was just decorative.
For dinner we took an Uber to the other side of town to try a recommended restaurant called Bon Appetito. They had a nice selection of beers and wines, and a wide assortment of Pizzas. They also did a pasta in a cheese wheel, but we weren't about to try to compare to our favourite meal ever.
We took our time walking the area, and doing a little last minute shopping, before grabbing a taxi back to our condo.
Thursday
Today would be our last full day in Spain, we started the day at a bull ring that was converted to a shopping centre.
They had a cool elevator that you could pay to go up on the roof and walk around the upper area for views over the city. Or... for free you could go inside the mall, and just take the escalator up. Guess which one we did?
The little kids were loving this floor which had censors and would leave a trail of leaves, snow, flower petals or sparkles (depending on the current theme) as they ran around the area.
Views from the rootop of the bullring Mall
The Magic Fountain of Montjuïc is located at the head of Avinguda Maria Cristina in the Montjuïc neighborhood below the Palau Nacional on the Montjuïc mountain. The fountain, like most of the surrounding developments, was constructed for the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition. Our timing was perfect as they were testing the fountains for the evening show.
The Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya , also known as MNAC , is an art museum that brings together all the arts with the mission of conserving and exhibiting the most important collection of Catalan art in the world. The collection was moved between 1931 and 1934 to the Palau Nacional de Montjuïc. Although it looks much older, the Palau Nacional was built between 1926 and 1929 as the main venue for the Barcelona International Exhibition, with more than 5,000 works from all over Spain.
The art is divided into 4 separate areas; Romanesque (11th - 13th centuries), Gothic (late 13th - 15th century ), Renaissance and Baroque (15th - 18th centuries), and Modern art (19th - 20th centuries). We spent most of our time in the pre-19th century. We had seen enough Modern Art at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.
After leaving the museum, we wandered the Montjuic area, which was home to the 1992 Olympics.
Our feet were about done, so made our way back to the condo, a chance to see a few more crazy things in Spain.
We found another Japanese buffet for dinner, but service was so slow, we ended up just walking up to the bar, paying for what we got and left. Not everything can live up to that first experience we had in Valencia.
We headed back to the Montjuic fountain area, hoping we could get a spot where we would be able to see the fountain. People were packed on to the stairways and areas surrounding the fountain, but we found a walkway that had construction blocks, and we could climb on top of them and have perfect views for the whole show!
The night was capped off with the incredible Magic Fountain of Montjuic show... choreographed waters with lights and music. The Fountain sprays 700 gallons of water a second through 3620 jets to create its effect. The highest water spout is 170 feet. The first show took place on May 19, 1929, the day before the start of the Exposition. It was badly damaged in the Spanish Civil War and did not operate again until 1955. In the 1980s, music was incorporated with the light show and the fountain was completely restored prior to the 1992 Summer Olympics, held at Montjuïc. The music included film scores, classical, and modern music. The shows were only running Thursday - Sunday, so we were lucky to be there on the right day (strategic planning on my part).
And then it was over with a grand finale... but wait, there's more!
And then it was over with a grand finale... but wait, there's more!
On a half dozen occasions we both thought it was over, and then they would play another song. Some people would leave at each "grand finale", and then it would continue. We thought it was going to be 30 minutes long, and it ended up being over an hour.
The entire main road leading up the fountain also had fountains... but only during the show, in the day time they were dry.
Our last day in Barcelona definitely ended with a splash.
Friday
On our last morning in Spain we had breakfast at a little local cafe, our last chance for Hot Chocolate and Churros. Then it was a short walk to the train station for our ride to the airport.
Of course we would be serenaded by a little 2 man band as we are leaving the country, what a wonderful place. So glad we had a chance to spend more time in Barcelona at the end, and most importantly, so glad we had a chance to explore more of Spain.
But wait... there's more!