Oh, Lord help us – we have decided to take the car out!  One day only – because, really, there is so much more to do in Girona – but we do want to explore more of the Andalusian countryside, so we’re going to make the most of the rental car.  Except that garage…sigh.

Well, we do make it out – not easily – man – it is brutal over here with these garage spaces – but I guess it is just like everything in life, you just get used to it when you live here – and we are off to the countryside without any issues.  Well, once you’re out of the damn garage – I mean driving around Spain is pretty easy, navigating garages? Eh, not so much.

It is a beautiful drive, though, through the countryside, up into the Garrotxa region, which is a volcanic area with 30 volcanic cones.  Only an hour away from Girona, but a world apart.  It is old and historic, but not a Gothic walled city like Girona.  Olot, from its placement near the French and Andorran border, is more a refugee town – with factories and industry that employed (and employs) the migrants coming into to Spain.  There is a rich history of textiles here – development, trade and artistic creation.  A whole school of “countryside painting” was formed here in the late 1700’s and it continues on today with 400+ students.

There is also the volcano aspect – the town is surrounded by 4 volcanos and has a science center and museum (as well as a park) dedicated to the study of volcanic activity. 

We arrive in the city center and find parking easily enough, then begin our explorations.  We start at the Garrotxa Museum, where the sweet guy at the front desk gives us an English book to walk through the exhibits with so we can understand what is going on.  So nice (oh, and PS, big bonus, I watch him with his mask and glasses, and have AT LAST figured out how to wear both without fogging up!  We’re not discussing the contacts as this point – that’s for another time, place and blog…..). 

We easily spend an hour here perusing all the different displays, exhibits depicting the industry (with this great ceramic sculpture depicting a grapefruit box from Florida – one of the early trading routes here in this part of Spain oddly enough).  We view paintings from some of the famous painters that have come through the school – Josep Pinos, Josep Clara – and others we’re not familiar with but are obviously big names here in Spain.

Afterward, we make our way to the Casa Museu Can Trincheria an example of how the rich Andalusians lived in the 18th century.  The house is pretty amazing – with lots of great period pieces, drawing rooms and rooms for the visiting clergy to stay – but the most amazing thing is the creche room.  This is a room filled floor to ceiling, wall to wall with creche and religious figures – of every size, shape and form.  Incredible. 

There is also this totally wild “fireplace bench” – which is a tall-backed bench that encircles the fireplace, and is said to be the warmest place in the house.  No doubt!  I’d hang out here forever.  Just give me some cushions on that bench and I’m done!

From here we meander through the old town center, walking past the cathedral with the great clock on the tower, the corner house, Casa Sola Morales, two houses joined together to make one building (now a book store on ground level), then onto one of the main squares, looking at the old theater and the beautiful Casa Gaieta Vila, designed in 1905 with floral motifs and decorated ceramic tiles.

It’s a lovely little walk, but at the end, it is still too early for lunch, so we head out to the Volcano Park and museum, about a 20 minute walk away.  We had debated driving there, but we don’t want to take the car out of the garage again – particularly when the restaurant we have scoped out for lunch is right over the carpark, so we hoof it. It turns out to be an easy walk – flat, through the town, past a lovely little park and this really neat looking semi-circular building that we think may be apartments?  Or offices?  We don’t know, but with the trees, adorned with brightly fall colored leaves set off by the start white of the circular loggia around the building, it’s a gorgeous site.

We arrive at the park without issue (although Google Maps would have had us walking way further than necessary if we had following it – and not gone off on our own!).  It is a lovely area, with many trails and a nice canopy of trees.  There is an interesting volcanic rock sitting off to one side of the trail, which gives us a good representation of the volcanic activity that once was here.

The museum at the center of the park is interesting, but there is a huge class of school children here – teenage – and well, they take up a lot of space.  So after a few minutes of trying to avoid their class tour, we give up on the museum (it wasn’t all that interesting anyway) and head back into town for lunch.

Our choice for lunch is Mig Craft Brewery.  There are tons of tables on a large square out front, when I ask for and English menu, they all point to the bartender and say English!  He is a doll – and our translator – and we have a wonderful meal of fried calamari, baby chorizo in wine, octopus and Torrada (tower) of vegetables (a flat bread with tons of yummy veggies and cheese).

Then it’s back in the car, back into Girona and back into that little garage.  Practice makes perfect though, because it is a breeze to get back in there.  Nice!  And now we are set – no more taking the car out until we leave for Barcelona on Thursday.