Girona represents two thousand years of history, four rivers, and a labyrinth of streets, squares, bridges, and monuments. Girona is highly observed, photographed, and alive. Girona makes you fall in love by day and dazzles at night. We recommend a tour of the city at night.
We begin during a spring sunset when the sun sets and the scent of linden trees begins to embrace everything. Some shops in the Old Quarter are still open.
We’ll head towards the city walls, an enviable stroll with a unique perspective: the cathedral and the basilica of Sant Feliu, the entire Old Quarter with all its ochre and gold hues, the new town, and the Devesa Gardens beyond.
We leave the walls, descend the Sant Domènec stairs, and head towards Força Street, a cobbled avenue that connects to a series of small alleys that once formed the heart of the Jewish quarter, one of the largest and best preserved in Europe. At the end, the cathedral appears in all its majesty rising towards the sky. Illuminated, it seems to guard the secrets of the city since time immemorial. It brings to mind what Josep Pla wrote about it: “Before these proud, hard, dark, imperative stones, I understood that above my personal and insignificant interests there is a permanent, continuous, and indestructible appeal to generic yet more concrete and important bonds. The cathedral seems to me the first element of strength of my collectivity.” The cathedral’s presence can’t be defined.
We continue and cross the Onyar River over the Princesa Bridge. It isn’t the most striking or the most photographed one, as it has to compete with the Peixateries Velles Bridge, made of red iron, or the majestic Pedra Bridge, but for some it is the most romantic. From here we observe the spectacle of the colorful houses that are reflected in the waters of the Onyar River, the illuminated windows, people moving about their homes. We can already feel the atmosphere of Independence Square, where there’s a performance today during one of the many festivals that bring life to the city throughout the year.
It’s dark at night, the streets are busy, and the terraces are full. We’re looking for a place to have dinner. The culinary offer is wide and diverse, with tradition and modernity, local products, and some Michelin-starred establishments. We dine in a small restaurant on Santa Clara Street and, when we finish, we seek out the Rambla, one of the main points for meeting friends and going for a stroll, and we have an ice cream watching the crowds pass. We head towards the hotel, in Catalunya Square, with a terrace boasting stunning views. We’ll have breakfast here in the morning.
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