Girona Kids: Ruins of Empuries

We are on the last day of Eston's 4-day weekend.

Rory has been training a ton, so he basically leaves after lunch and returns just before dinner.

This makes for a very long day and my exercise has been lacking, which does not help.

Sunday night was the beginning of the celebration for Sant Joan.

In Catalan Sunday night is referred to as "La revetlla de Sant Joan" which basically means "St. Joan Eve." This day is to celebrate the summer solstice and is widely known as the craziest and loudest party of the year. All the hotels advise against tourists staying in hotels on the evening of the 23rd because of the noise.

We were invited to a local Catalan family party and were pretty excited to see what this day was all about.

The party started at 7pm, so I let Eston have a long nap in the afternoon.

Aurelia went to sleep soon after arriving and our wonderful hosts let her sleep in their room.

How she stayed asleep through all the noise I will never know.

Anyway, fireworks and fires are the biggest part of this celebration.

We had plenty of both at this party!

There were tons of kids and tons of toys, so Eston was right at home with his friends (we have been here for parties a few times now).

Catalans have few concerns about kids and fireworks, so I decided to follow suit.

Eston had a blast...

The most interesting part of the party...hearing our son speak fluent Catalan.

We've never heard him speak Catalan before, so this was a bit of a shock.

I mean, I know he uses it at school, but I was not sure how much he could speak.

One of the other parents at the party assumed Rory and I spoke it at home and they were shocked to hear that he has only learned it at school and informed us that he is quite fluent for his age. Obviously the locals love hearing him use their native language with such ease!

This is the traditional cake eaten on this day.

To be honest, I don't think Catalans know much about cakes.

This one tasted like the Easter cake and the Three Kings cake.

A bit bland.

But I certainly tried it at the party!

We were the first to leave the party a little after midnight.

We drove back to the center of town and everyone was partying and setting off fireworks all night long.

We turned our fans to "high" to drown out the noise.

And Monday morning (the actual Sant Joan Day) was incredibly silent.

Rory had another long training day, so I packed the kids up and we went to see the ruins at Empuries.

From the website (again, please don't sue me).

The ruins of Empúries are in the province of Girona, in Catalonia. Visit this ancient colony founded by the Greeks in the 6th century BC, later occupied by the Romans, who created their own town in the 1st century BC. This spot on the Costa Brava was a prosperous territory, on account of its commercial activity, until the town was abandoned in the 3rd century AD and disappeared beneath the dunes. This unique archaeological park was hidden for centuries until, in 1908, the excavations began that continue to this day.

Explore this network of walls, columns, streets and houses, admiring priceless mosaics, marble and paintings. The drainage systems, layout of houses and constructions such as the Forum, an old factory, the Amphitheatre and the Basilica will give you an idea of what life was like way back at that time. Don't miss the statue of Asclepios, the Greek god of medicine, presiding over a temple, looking out to sea. The Greek wharf, along the shore, also has to be seen - it is in an excellent state of conservation. Make the most of the occasion to visit the Archaeology Museum, where you can see important pieces, ceramics, utensils and sculptures from the time. The Mediterranean beauty of this spot is hard to match.

The beauty was hard to match--what a perfect spot!