65. Barcelona to Girona

7 July 2022

The penultimate day of the journey!!!

And a fair distance to cover…so we planned for and were ready for a fairly early start but then we were thwarted by that lift!! 

Ever more attempts…and eventually the lift moved. About six inches. And stopped! I lifted the bike a fraction…and it moved a bit more! Not quite panicking yet….and thankfully I got it in the right position to allow the descent…forever waiting it to stop mid-descent!! 

Repeat…..with the second bike. Nae sensibly passed on the job!!

The saving grace was this…a bike path but 50 metres away which took us traffic free out of the city (often a real hassle to exit a city of the size of Barcelona).

And we swapped from rivers….

….to long sections off-road tracks….

…to service roads (often crossing the motorway…)

….and managed to avoid traffic for almost the whole distance to…….”My Girona” (well, that was what Nae was apparently singing to herself all day…replacing her “My Corona” through the pandemic (she was actually doing all the UK MoH stats and reporting on the  effects of covid vaccines on pregnant women…so was very entitled!). Ever heard of The Knack…? 

We stopped about 100 metres from our accommodation…..and Nae was wondering if the folk who came up with this logo still had their jobs.

But then we spotted what it was actually for. “Dick Ice Lollies”…Really?

“Make it creamy”…for an extra 50 cents…. And a note under the drinks “do not swallow”. It is not surprising that evidently most folk do not share the founders’ sense of humour…for it is all but new…and fully closed down!! A complete ”flop”…as Nae noted!

Not a bad wee place to stay….but I was concerned to see a spiral staircase, and a lift which was even smaller than last night’s matchbox. Thankfully they had a small store room which we just managed to stuff the bikes into!!

So…then a brief explore of Girona…around the river and into the old town. And I think it has a good vibe. Quite stylish shops. But none of the hype of Barcelona….but only 40 minutes or so away (by train!). I will let the pics tell a brief story.

Tomorrow is the end! Alas!!!