Girona, Garroxta natural park and water problems

Wednesday 6^th March Girona

Today we planned to travel to Girona from Sant Feliu. On route we topped up with gas, shopped and I did some Keele work outside Mc Donalds. Mike sent off emails to his plumber and agent giving them authority to install a new boiler etc. into the Old Stables.  We arrived in Girona just after lunch and decided to start wandering around the city. We picked up from tourist information the things we needed: map, place to park the van and where were the best sights.

Girona is an ancient walled city that has been nicknamed immortal as it has been besieged on 21 occasions, surviving 5 attacks from the French in 1809. We started at the cathedral which was set high at the top of an enormous flight of seventeen century Baroque steps and inside it contained the largest single gothic vault in the world, then to St Feliu church which has a blunt tower rather than having a steeple point. We then circled the city by use of the old Wall looking at what else we could visit and we soon ended up on the banks of the river, now fast flowing, due to the recent rain. We crossed a lovely bridge and took pictures of the mellow coloured buildings before walking back along narrow cobbled streets to the van where we found we had a problem with our own water system as there was no hot water coming out of the taps. Well to explain that further, the water was heating up, so no problem with the boiler and cold water was fine, so no problem with the pump.  However if we turned the hot taps on we eventually got water after a lot of air had passed through but then 5 mins later no hot water again.  This was a major concern – no shower for Mike!

Thursday 7^th March Girona to Besalu

Our first job this morning was to try and sort out our water problem.  Eventually we got in touch with a very helpful Caravan Centre in Vila Sacra near Figueres who agreed to look at the van on Friday.  Interestingly the people who worked there all spoke German as a first language, but their English was good too.  With this sorted we set off for a tour of the Garroxta Natural Park, an old volcanic region.  The last active volcano being 17,000 years ago which I guess is not that long in geological terms.  It is now a beautiful fertile hilly region with excellent hiking.  We stopped off for coffee on the edge of the lake at Banyoles.  This area became more famous when it was used for the canoeing events in the 1992 Olympics. We then headed for Besalu.  This was a lovely medieval village that was entered by walking over an 11^th century bridge that crossed the Fluvia river – again in flood. 

Besalu is a charming place, with steep narrow streets and shops built into the rock, like caves.  The sun was shining and with the snow-capped mountains in the background it was beautiful so we decided to return to spend the night here after we had completed our tour of the region. It was also an important village during the Spanish civil war where 120 children were evacuated – a law was passed at this time that towns could not take more than 10% of their population as refugees.  Besalu at this time had 1200 inhabitants.  This was one of the few times on our travels that I saw reference made to the Spanish Civil War.

Back in the van the next place to catch our eye was Castellfollit de la Roca- here there was a row of houses perched high on a sheer basalt cliff ? You have to ask yourself why - it all looks so precarious.  The scenic road continued through tunnels for some kilometres before we came back on a more circuitous route through the Alto Garroxta. More scary driving on narrow hairpin bends, made worse by fallen rocks due the recent heavy rains. We entered the Parc Natural de la Zona Volcanica and stopped for a short walk up to the crater of Santa Margareta. This was one of only 30 craters in this region. The whole area is covered in beautiful woodland, including a large ancient beech forest, and we had wonderful valley views all the way to our next stop at Santa Pau.  This was another delightful medieval village which we enjoyed exploring walking along its cobbled streets.  We then meandered back to Besalu, parking the van just outside the village.  After our supper we walked back into the town over the ancient bridge where we found a nice warm bar for a nightcap.

Friday 8^th March Besalu to Bay of Roses

We were up and off early as we needed to get the van to the Caravan Centre.  We arrived there about 9.30am despite going up and down adjacent roads three times before we found it.  Fortunately there were not too many language problems here and we left the mechanic to diagnose the problem whilst we sat in a café catching up with e mails and marking.  By lunchtime we returned to find a new water pump had been fitted which had helped but not solved the problem. Although the mechanic informed us that we could manage with some air in the system we decided to get him to investigate further.  Whilst he did this we set off with a small packed lunch and our bikes.  Our ride was cut short 1) by a flooded river and 2) by a phone call telling us all was fixed.  Our fears that there was an air leak in the boiler which could have cost us 800 euros was unfounded and we returned to a bill of 160 euros for the new pump, a replaced split hose and a new non return valve.  We were really pleased to have the problem sorted and to have received such help from these people.  It is only from talking to the locals that you realise how much the poor economy is affecting them.  Today we were told of a family who could not take their son to school because they did not have enough money (since both parents had lost their jobs) for diesel for heating or for the car.  Gratefully we said goodbye and headed out to the bay of Roses and a wild camp spot near the wetlands area known as the Parc Natural dels Aiguamolls de l’Emporda.