Sunday May 12, 2019

Zip It

We have a leisurely breakfast and morning before we walk to the bus station for our 1030 bus. We are hoping the advertised hour trip lets us catch the 1143 train from Figueres to Girona. The same hour trip here was an hour and fifteen so we do not hold up much hope. It turns out that we are twenty minutes over our hour and the train is long gone. We text our apartment owner in Girona to tell them we will be on the later train that arrives in Girona at 1315 and will meet them at 1345. We then buy our tickets and wait for the 1237 train. These are all regional trains where all of our other trains have been the fast ones. At about 1230, people start to move to the platform and we do as well. The arrival time comes and goes with no train. We wait, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes and then it finally arrives at 1255, almost 20 minutes late. It is not our day for punctuality. We feel bad as we will have to let the apartment owner know that we are late again. As the train is pulling in to Girona, we are getting a phone call, but it cuts off. When we exit the train, we go outside and call. I tell them we just arrived and are walking, she says 10 minutes, I say 25, around 1400. It always takes time to get our bearings, find the right streets, and watch for turns as we arrive in a new city. We get to a pedestrian bridge across the river and notice that the bridge and the streets are suddenly much more crowded. We are surprised at the large crowds as we walk along, finding our way. We are now in the old quarter and near a Basilica. We pass a smart car police car, zero to fifty in 10 minutes, and find the door to our apartment. As we are looking up at the numbers, a lady appears and says Charles. She does not speak English, but her husband shows and Francesc speaks very good English. They show us up to our place as we apologize for the late bus and train saying it is the first time in five weeks the transportation has not been on time. The apartment looks amazing and Francesc shows us all we need to know, takes out a map and explains no where everything is. They have a book with recommended restaurants and other information. Very organized and in English. We thank them and they go on about their day while we settle in. He did tell us that there is a big flower festival this week and that is why it is crowded. They expect 250,000 people for it and it is 12 hours each day. We will see how this impacts our visit, especially restaurants. We decide to check out a Mexican restaurant that Carol found on line to see if we can get lunch. We find it, but they have no lunch space available, so I ask about dinner tonight and we reserve when they open at 2000. Our next stop is the market where we pick up some eggs for breakfast, bread, potatoes, onion, an orange, a small pizza, sangria and beer. We put everything but the eggs in the daypack. Now, we have to navigate the crowds with eggs in my hands. We reach a police barricade where they are keeping the pedestrian traffic one way. It is the most direct route back so I tell Little Miss Po Po that apartamento aqui and point up the street. She looks at me and my eggs and waves us through. Now, back at the apartment, it is obviously Sangria time with fresh orange slices. Carol had noticed there was an oven so we bought a small pizza to have for lunch. It took us over a half hour to figure out how the French oven worked. It did not help that we were getting a error message so I searched the web for the model instructions and we figured it out. The pizza came out good and went well with our Sangria. We don’t go out until about an hour before dinner and the pedestrian traffic has thinned out. We see a few of the flower exhibits as we walk. One looks like a giant zipper.

Taco Time

We arrive at the restaurant on time and are seated as soon as they open. We get a couple of Desperado beers and start with a chorizo queso fundido. It is good served with four flour tortillas, although we both agree some chips would have been nice. Our meals consists of shared tacos. We get an order of spiced meat tacos and one of pulled pork tacos. They are both very good. We pass on dessert as we are thinking crepes would be different. We are getting closer to the French border and passed several creperies today.

Late Bloomer

We leave and meander the streets digesting dinner and seeing some more flower displays without the crowds. The displays are also scattered inside some of the museums and sights, so we get a free look at the history museum. It is mostly looking as the descriptions are mostly in Spanish only.

Jelly Fish

We pass a really cool lighted flower display that look like jellyfish. Another display on some stairs have rolls of sewing thread in it. There is a polar bear made of white flowers that I really like. There are many other nice displays, many of them lit up and no crowds.

Cafe and Crepes

We make it to La Vedette, a crepe place we had read about and score the last table available even though it is 2200. Even near France, the Spanish like to eat late. Carols crepe choice is obvious as one has caramel and chocolate. I get a ice cream with walnuts and white chocolate. Two cafes will help the desserts go down. They arrive and taste as good as they look. When we are done, we book for dinner tomorrow at 2000, as they have savory crepes and other items as well. For tonight, we are done. One more day in Espana.

Expenses
Bus from Cadeques to Figueres 11.20E
Train from Figueres to Girona 8.20E
Little Home Rei Marti Apartment 91.08E
Sangria and Beer from Spar Market 13.25E
Dinner at Maguey 40E
Dessert Crepes at La Vedette 14.40E
Walked 5.5 Miles