Girona is known to be the richest city in Spain; while today it maintains its riches with tourism it has held this title for many parts of the last two millennia. Founded in the first century BC it was soon to become the hub of Roman activity during their occupancy of Spain marking the most important intersection point on the Spanish Via Augusta. Each town which had any roman occupancy had a Via Augusta, the main concept being that all Via Augustas, named after the famous Roman emperor, lead to Rome. In Girona this street is now called Calle Forca(Fuerza) which stands for strength and winds its way through the old town past the cathedral.
The Cathedral itself is a most impressive building having taken 600 years to complete it is a real patchwork of styles and influences ranging from roman to gothic and baroque. The cathedral closes like all other places during siesta time, so when visiting remember to turn up before 1pm or after 4pm.

All around the cathedral is the old part of town its origins dating back to roman times but only the gothic and baroque influences remain except for a small piece of the old roman wall, which used to span around the city until medieval times, when a second wall was built. Most impressive are the Jewish quarters with their narrow streets and the Arab baths, not built by Arabs but in the Arab style it was used by Jews for their ceremonial baths. When the first Jewish families settled in Girona, they consisted of 25 families and over the years grew to a community of over 2000 inhabitants until the arrival of the plague, which like many other things was blamed on the Jews. The Jews had managed to set up a whole self-sufficient society in Girona from their own schools, butchers, shops, and synagogues, even their own hospital and were finally expelled in 1492 together with all other Jews in Spain.

When walking through the old town you will notice an abundance of little restaurants and bars and it might be hard to choose the best place to eat. After bouncing from one to the other and back we finally settled on a restaurant called El Barri Vell offering cuina casolana, (home made food) and were absolutely thrilled by the value for money. At 11€ for a four course lunch menu of finest Catalan dishes you are in for a great lunch all with fresh bread and pleasant table wine. This little gem can be found on Cont-Reial at the intersection with c/ Fournas, round the corner from an Irish pub.

How to get there:
Barcelona Bus: 12€ return leaves from Barcelona Nord station. Trains cost around the same leaving from Sants & by car you take the A7, Exit 7, calculate around 12€ motorway tolls