I ended up at the Girona Temps de Flors Flower Festival by a complete accident. It was a last-minute planned trip (we booked the hotel only a week before) to take advantage of the Ascension Day public holiday (Thurs 5). Of the four days (5-8 May) we only had 3 useable days since we decided to go by car from Lyon and I wanted to cover a lot of area in those 3 days.
I wanted to go to Spain as it had been quite a long time since I’d last been, as well as I wanted to go to Aigues Mortes again and also to the famous UNESCO heritage-listed city, Carcassonne since they were both sort of on the way. More about those two cities in following blogposts.
Here is the actual route we took :
Girona Temps de Flors Flower Festival (Flower Time)
A while ago I had seen on my Instagram that there is a Little Prince statue in L’Escala, somewhere in the Costa Brava region in the north-west of Spain (north of Barcelona). I thought it would be cool to go and see it but you can’t really get there without a car, which is why we decided to take a road trip.
L’Escala is not really exactly a city, it’s a tiny little seaside village and so we found out that the nearest large(ish) town is Girona. I’d never heard of it before, I had never planned to go there in my life, but why not? I didn’t think it would be that interesting or beautiful but it was! We decided to check it out and also use it as a base to explore the region.
The city is more than 1000 years old. So old it’s the latest filming location for the next season of Game of Thrones. Last year I visited Malta which is also one of the filming locations. Quite a strange coincidence as I admit I’ve never even watched the tv series!
And so, because this was a last minute-booked holiday, I suddenly realised that there was not much availability for hotels in Girona. I assumed it was because we’d left it so late to book (and that it was a public holiday) but nope… it was because there was going to be a huge annual Girona Temps de Flors flower festival there! Woah! I got pretty excited about that. Truth be told I suffer from pollen allergies really badly and these few days were extremely windy but I didn’t let that stop me. I love festivals in Europe because there is always a historic and cultural reason behind them and I love going to lesser known and smaller ones. (btw we got a hotel in nearby Salt, which was not bad and was located right next to a really nice shopping mall open till 10pm).
Temps de Flors means “Flower Time” in Catalan and the festival started in 1954. It’s a week long festival held every May. It started in one small part of the city and was moved from monument to monument until, finally, it took over the entire old town (Barri Vell) of the city. It’s the one time of the year where the city is awash with colour to welcome in the spring. Hundreds of beautiful floral installations blend effortlessly into the city’s most famous and historical monuments. It is also the one time of the year where many private buildings are opened to the public.
Every year there is also a new poster designed by a different artist. This year’s features coloured pencil shavings arranged in a rose shape.
I had two similar experiences some years ago. The Arles Rencontres photo festival and the Vevey Images photo festival. Both of these were spectacular and allowed you to explore the city and discover its most interesting buildings while simultaneously seeing numerous amazing pieces of artworks and photos.
Girona was such a pretty little town, full of history and culture. The people were friendly and the food and shopping were great too! If the flower festival hadn’t been on it still would have been great to visit, but the festival just gave it that added something. Did I also mention that it was completely free?
Girona Temps de Flors flower festival was open from 7-15 May 2016, 10am-10pm, opening 24 hours on certain days.
You can download the map here.
The exhibitions and installations are spread out all over the old town (Barri Vell) but most are located west of the old city’s walls.
There were so many exhibitions we did not end up seeing them all but here are a few highlights:
Catedral de Santa Maria (Santa Maria Cathedral)
I was happy to see that Sydney made an appearance 😉 although I’m not sure why.
Banys Àrabs (Arab baths)
This was the most spectacular indoor exhibition. It was held inside the ancient Arab baths and there was a huge queue to get inside. It was quite dark inside (I have brightened my photos) and you could imagine what it would’ve been like all those hundreds of years ago. The fragrance in the air was also incredible.
Plaça del Jurats (Juries Square) and Monestir de Sant Pere de Galligants (St Peter of Galligants Monastery)
I am sure that this monastery features in the Game of Thrones. I mean just look at it. How old does it look? I’ll save you looking it up. It was built in 992!
Various locations and Flower installations
I felt like Alice in Wonderland here.
This made me think of Violet Beauregarde turning into a big blueberry in “Charlie and The Chocolate Factory” *chuckle*
Not long after arriving in the heart of Girona, I wandered into a souvenir store in search of embroidered cloth patches (which I collect). The man said he didn’t sell them but told me to go to the town hall and there’s a store there. He even drew on our map so we could find it. At the end of our flower tour we went to find the Town Hall. At first I thought we were looking for a souvenir store but when I realised there weren’t any nearby I had an “Aha” moment. See that “La Moda” store in the photo below? It’s a cute little haberdashery store straight from the 1950s or 60s. You had to take a ticket to be served and then they would fetch the items you needed out of one of thousands of little cardboard boxes. I was really thankful for this man because we ended up discovering another part of the city we wouldn’t have ventured into. We arrived right in the middle of the band playing and people dancing. It was wonderful to see people of all ages dancing together, the atmosphere really warmed my heart.
I was also so thankful for that man for being so helpful I went back into his store and bought some stuff from him.
Apart from the Game of Thrones tv show being filmed here there were two other random interesting facts I discovered about Girona. Gustave Eiffel made an appearance here and people line up to kiss a small lioness statue’s butt.
Pont de Ferro / Pont Palanques Vermelles /Pont de les Peixateries velles / Pont Eiffel
This bridge seems to have four different names and is famous because it was designed by Gustave Eiffel, and was constructed several years before the Eiffel Tower in 1877. During the festival they hung potless flowers from it creating a very cool and bohemian ambiance.
Hostal de la Lleona
Since the Middle Ages, there was a stone column in Carrer Calderes (Calderes Street) with a lioness climbing up it. The meaning behind this is unknown, but it could’ve been created to attract attention to the place named “Hostal de la Lleona” (Hostel of the Lioness) which was there at that time.
Children began reaching up to touch the lioness’ bottom and a legend developed that if you touch it too you will one day return to Girona.
The saying is:
“No pot ser veí de Girona qui no faci un petó al cul de la lleona”
“You can’t be resident of Girona until you’ve kissed the backside of the lioness”
In 1986 the statue was moved to city’s Museum of Art and a replica installed (complete with steps to allow you to touch or kiss it easily) in Plaça de Sant Feliu, one of the main entrances to the city.
Girona also does a mean gelato. We saw amazing places all over town. Although my photos don’t seem to show that it was hot it was and after walking around for hours I was dying for an icecream. La Lletera at the end of the city ‘tour’ was just perfect. It also had the most delicious cone I’d ever tasted, it was like a crepe but crunchy and made into an ice cream cone.
All in all I had an extremely fulfilling visit to Girona. I highly recommend smaller, lesser-known towns.
Love me some pinchos
Riu Onyar river
Transport
Girona is located 98km (61 miles) north of Barcelona. You can get a bus or train from Barcelona.
Driving around the Old Town (Bari Vell) would be extremely difficult so it would be wise to get around on foot or bike. As we stayed in Salt we caught a bus to Girona and the main bus stop is on the west side of the river, after which you must walk. Please note that most roads are full of large cobblestones and there are many steep steps. It was quite a workout walking around here!
Many of the streets are kind of maze-like and I didn’t find the map all that useful in areas where there were a lot of steps (plus the map was just not detailed enough). We just randomly followed the crowd… but that’s one of the best parts of travelling IMHO, getting lost and finding and seeing new and interesting things.
Do
Wander aimlessly around Bari Vell as you step back in time and imagine what life was like back in Medieval times. Cross at least one of the bridges to get a better feel (and view) of the city. Admire the pastel coloured buildings lining the Riu Onyar. Check out the monuments listed below:
Attractions
If you want to go to Bari Vell in Girona, here are the top monuments to look out for:
- Girona Cathedral / Santa Maria Cathedral
- Basilica of Sant Feliu
- The old monastery of Sant Pere de Galligants
- The Arab Baths
- Pont Palanques Vermelles / Pont de les Peixateries velles / Pont de Ferro / Pont Eiffel
- Pujada de Sant Domènec
- Casa Agullana
- La Plaça dels Apòstols
- Casa Masó Bru
- Iglesia de Sant Lluc de Girona
- La Pia Almoina
- Cul de La Lleona
- The pastel coloured buildings on each side of the river Riu Onyar
Shop
Along the main street in the old town Rambla de la Llibertat there are many great shops. I only wished I had more time and money to spend there! Most shops closed at around 8pm. There is another shopping area (high street/fashion) around Carrer de Joan Maragall and Carrer Bisbe Lorenzana. If you want to do some late night shopping I can also recommend the Espai Gironès Mall in Salt, open till 10pm.
Eat
There are tons of eateries for all budgets everywhere. However, in the western part of the old town (where most of the monuments are) there are very very few places to buy food.
