Calella de Palafrugell

The Costa Brava has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world and we are so fortunate to call this area home. A few weeks ago Rory and I dropped the kids at casal (summer camp) and headed to Calella de Palafrugell, an ancient fishing village with beautiful coves.

The small village of Calella is a wonderful place to go, though I would avoid the peak times (weekends and August). Many of the old two-story flats that belonged to the fishermen still exist and the streets are narrow and few. There are several coves that dot the coastline and each cove has a slightly different beach, making it a great place to explore.

Rory and I enjoyed a quick tea and coffee and then we found a less crowded cove and soaked up the sun and did a bit of swimming. The many rocks near the shoreline make the current here a bit different, but the water felt wonderful and it was such a peaceful way to spend a morning.

The heat just won't quit here in Catalunya. This morning it was 35 degrees by 10am. We have reached 40 degrees several days in a row and set a record last week at 41.2 degrees (about 106 in fahrenheit). It is stifling, to say the least. Relief is on the way, though, as our AC units arrived yesterday! Our electricians brought them and a crew of four and they worked until 8pm and returned this morning at 8:30am. The units are huge and installing all of this is not a simple thing, but it will be worth it in the end when we have central AC. None of us are sleeping well and the heat is not meant to quit any time soon. I am very thankful for pools and beaches at this time of year!

Andorra

Rory had to do a training camp in Andorra, so we headed there to join him. The independent principality of Andorra is about three hours away and it is gorgeous. Not much to do except hike (or bike) and we did just that.

I was really proud of the kids. We did three hikes--one short and the other two were two hours long. Eston can do all of that easily, but Aurelia did her best and hiked over 2km each day before climbing in the pack. Our last hike was particularly difficult as it was uphill (and fairly steep) the entire way. We also had to cross two small but fast moving creeks, so it was quite an adventure. Andorra is a beautiful place and I will be taking the kids back in September before school starts while Rory is off racing.

Jardins de la Francesca

Eston spent the month of April studying the various legends of Girona. He has been explaining these legends to me as we walk around town and they are super interesting, so I will share one particular legend with you.

Now, keep in mind that he learned these legends at school in Catalan and is translating them to English, so I may be missing a few tidbits here and there.

The cathedral has many gargoyles places in various spots, but none of them are human...except for one. There is a woman and she is wearing a long dress and what looks to be a hood. She is holding something in her hand and when it rains it appears that the water is gushing from her mouth. Now I know why!

Way back when, a Frenchwoman lived in Girona. Her house and surrounding garden was located near the Cathedral, but she was known to the locals for her witchcraft. Yes, she was a witch (Eston whispered this information to me). She despised those who practiced religion, so I am not sure why she chose to live right next door to a church, but that is neither here nor there. The woman would throw rocks at people going to mass as she shouted vulgarities at them. One day she was up to her usual tricks when a soft voice from somewhere said, "pedres tires, pedres tiaras, i de pedra et quedaras." (Stones you throw and stone you shall remain.) And just like that, the witch turned to stone. The local people placed the stone statue high on the cathedral and her body faces the ground. This is particularly significant and locals say it is placed this way so she can no longer insult anyone and only clean water from the clouds comes out of her mouth.

You can go visit her gardens and see where her house once stood. 

Eston pointed out a certain area of the wall and had me put my ear to it. He asked if I could hear it. I concentrated and replied that I had heard a bit of something. He told me it was the witch cackling. His teacher pointed this out to them and I just love it.

Here is the view once inside the gardens/house:

And here is the well with her tears...

There must be more to this part of the legend, but Eston said his class did not discuss it and I couldn't really find anything online. I am going to have to start asking locals. Most of my local friends think I am certifiable and tell me that I know more about Girona than they do. Probably true.

There have been various blurbs written about the garden area. Though beautiful and popular with tourists (one can take excellent photos of the cathedral from the garden), I don't think the energy here is all that great. I have seen a couple of weddings here and my friend Kaitlin even considered this spot for her ceremony, but then I read about this woman and what happened in this spot and I am not sure one wants to have a wedding there. I know it may sound a bit hocus pocus, but oh well. It is a nice place to sit and the kids like playing here, so perhaps we are changing the energy flow with our positive presence. 

The Francoist Provincial Prison in the Diocesan Seminary of Girona

Our realtor mentioned that our building had served as a prison after the Civil War. I quickly read the historical plaque as we passed by, but in the last few days I have done a bit more reading about our future home. I am piecing together bits from various sources, some in Catalan, so I may be slightly off with some of my facts, but I think I have the basics correct. 

Before the war our building was part of the seminary. An open walkway separated our building from the main seminary and church. During the Spanish Civil War this open space was built in and the two buildings were connected and used as a hospital. 

Francoist troops arrived in Girona on February 4, 1939 and began to detain people, especially distinguished Catalans. Teachers who were educated at the Generalitat college for teachers were considered especially dangerous for their liberal and democratic ideals and over 500 Catalan teachers and 130 Catalan university professors fled the region. Many went to Mexico or South America and refused to ever return to Spain. Others tried to leave and could not, so their fate was to face prison or death.

Franco's troops needed somewhere to put all of the people, so they quickly turned a local movie theater into a detention center. The former seminary/hospital (our building) became a prison and over 3,000 Catalan people were imprisoned here between 1939 and 1942. Women were also held here for a brief time.

Here is the building when it was a prison:

And this is what it looks like today:

I am not sure what happened to the building after 1942.Was it returned to the seminary? I know the prison was moved out of the city center after 1942, but I am still trying to figure out  apartments, but I am curious to know what happened in the years between. I am signing the final contracts this week and will be asking our relator if he knows any information.

You can see the actual church part of the seminary in the photo below. These stairs are gorgeous and this little area is one of the most photographed places in all of Europe.

This is a picturesque spot and I have sipped tea and had lunch at the cafe in this very spot. Our first apartment, which we lived in for a year and a half, was located at the bottom of these beautiful stairs. In my readings I found out that the prisoners were taken from the prison (our building) and marched down these stairs. Trucks were waiting in the plaza at the bottom of the stairs. Prisoners were loaded into the trucks and driven out to the cemetery and murdered. Mass graves were dug in the cemeteries to house the thousands of prisoners killed by Francoist troops. The prisoners knew what would become of them as they left the prison, so these stairs obviously hold a lot of significance. I'll admit, I can't look at them in the same way anymore. It does not make me appreciate the beauty of the spot any less, but I think it is important to understand the history as well.

The entire city fascinates me, but I have to be careful with my questions and probing. Some of these wounds are very fresh for a lot of people and others simply do not want to speak of it. There are also those who supported Franco and don't see what everyone is upset about. I have found that people around my age are more willing to address the things that happened during and after the war. The city hall and the library have tons of things you can look through (documents and photographs) and I hope to do more research as my Catalan improves.

We have had the opportunity to live in some amazing historic buildings during our time in Girona and I am excited for our new space as well. I might burn a little sage before we move in, though. 

Temps de Flors 2

Temps de Flors

Things have been so busy! But finally, a brief update...

In 1954 the people of Girona decided to celebrate the arrival of spring with an exhibition that showed off the artistry of flowers. The exhibit was at one of the local historical sites and a new site was chosen until they decided to unleash the creativity and the festival and exhibits took over the entire Barri Vell neighborhood. My first Temps de Flors was back in 2011 and I thought it was so fantastic. And I still do. Well, the exhibits are quite fun. However, the number of tourists doubled this year and that was not as much fun. Our neighborhood was packed with people from morning to night and sleep was difficult to come by. Things wrapped up last night and I was happy to see peaceful streets full of Catalans this morning. Sorry, French and Dutch people.

I did venture out to early one morning to see the exhibits, so I shall share a few photos of the festivities.

This first photo is of our balcony. The festival began last Saturday and on Friday evening Eston decided we should decorate the balcony. I decided he was right, so we quickly made some tissue paper flowers and used pipe cleaners to tie them to our balcony. The kids loved it. And yes, my balcony garden is going bonkers. Carrots, tomatoes and cilantro can be seen in this photo.

 Aurelia was particularly taken with this exhibit. The headless piano player intrigued her to no end. We visited this exhibit each day on our walk home from nursery school.