(Monday, May 14th)

Half the group heads to the market and everyone’s allergies kick in. The other half goes into Girona.

Our group had to take two cars. Parking was hard to find so we split up and met at the Cathedral. Then we grabbed lunch because we were all pretty hungry. We ate pintxos, which are small items held together with a toothpick. At the end of the meal they charge you by how many toothpicks are on your plate.

Afterward we split up to explore the pedestrian-only area, which is really old and quite beautiful. Luckily we were there during the Girona Festival of Flowers. The festival was prevalent everywhere. I found myself seeking out the displays which were dispersed throughout the city. I was taking so many pictures of flowers I had to force myself to take some of Girona!

I was taking a picture of these white plastic flowers, draped over an ally like macrame. A Frenchman who spoke no English had his friend tell me that he was trying to take the same shot. I smiled and moved on (I never know what to say to people!). I ran into them again later and the Frenchman had his friend ask me if he could take a picture of me and my tattoos. I was happy to oblige, and a little flattered 🙂

When in Europe a day is not complete without some gelato. So I stopped at a place with cheese and fig flavor, it was the best gilato I’ve ever had! I kept looking for it again the rest of the trip, but never found it.

On the way back we had to stop for a few things. When we arrived at the castle we found the others deep into cooking tasks. And heard all about how they walked around the market and started sneezing, one by one. Then suddenly they were all miserable! Must have been something in the market air.

Dinner that night turned into Vietnam, according to Steve. There was a vegetable dish they had to keep pouring their hearts into and it came to a point where there was no turning back. We didn’t eat until 11pm! But it was all delicious and worth the wait.

On to Day 4