Riding on through medieval villages to Monells

It was time to leave the Mediterranean and head inland to see some Catalonian medieval villages.

First stop for coffee, the village of Pals.

Like all the villages around this area, Pals is built with lovely golden stone.

The village seems more viable than most of the ones we saw in the Castile. It even has souvenir shops.

A great way to get your shopping carried.

Bill.

View for the top of the village. We hadn't quite left the Med behind.

Next stop, lunch at Peratallada.

Plenty of interesting laneways here.

One of Creative Catalonia's signs. We didn't see too many of them on this part of the trip. Maybe that's why we were getting lost!

Our last hotel and it's a beauty again. An old hospital. Great, two nights here.

Debbie enjoys a swim.

The hotel is full of stone...

And arched roofs.

Around Llafranc

A day off the bike and we headed up to the Botanical Gardens at Cape Roig. The day was hot, but a bit misty.

The gardens and castle were developed in 1927 by a Russian (Colonel Nicolai Woevodsky) who was a lover of drawing and architecture and his wife (Dorothy Webster) an English aristocrat, decorator and gardening enthusiast.

Outside the castle.

The garden is lush and lovely.

The setting and views are outstanding.

A covered area.

There are a lot of cactus walks.

Even Australian plants were represented.

Lots of sculptures dotted around.

We walked back to Llafranc via lots of coves and bays.

There is a walking path all the way.

Back at lovely hotel.

 

                                             Riding along the beach.  What a great way to get to Llafranc.

                  Judith makes friends with a sculpture on the boardwalk. 

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                What a lovely day.

Cactus grows well along the coastline.

Arriving at gorgeous Llafranc.

Our hotel was amazing and this is the view of Llafranc from our room.

The little ferry boat at Llafranc.

Our hotel even had a stunning Michelin Star restaurant overlooking the bay and we had a table booked to celebrate Judith’s 60th birthday.

It was a  marvellous degustation menu.

Our waiter serving up one of the dishes on liquid nitrogen. 

This was certainly a day to remember.

 

Next stop, the Mediterranean, Sant Feliu de Guixols.

 Still on the wonderful Carrilet.  One of the old railway stations along the way. Some of them are coffee shops for bikers now.

Bike sculptures along the way.

Paella for lunch today.

One of the old trains.

A nice tree lined route.

Hooray, the Med!

Room view. Really happy with all our accommodation so far.

Daniel turned up to see how we are going.

Love the beach huts.

Girona

We had stayed in Girona a few years ago, but it was delightful to return to this interesting town again.

Placa Independencia.

The River Onyar in the evening.

Girona has many beautiful porticoes.

We couldn't get into the world's top Michelin restaurant, El Celler de Can Roca, so we had to console ourselves at there family ice cream shop. Debbie got carrot flavour.

Bill's happy!

Resting on the steps of Girona's Cathedral.

Next morning by the river.

Walking around the wall that surrounds more than half the old city.

The views are magnificent.

Also good for peering into people's backyards.

One of the towers along the wall.

Steps descending from the wall.

Banby Arab baths - not really Arab but built in the Arab style in the 12th century.