Guest writer: Quinn
We should live closer to the north of Spain. Again this summer we took the long drive up to the north for a little biking, hiking, and mountain adventure.
Lunch stop. This is a very rare occurrence, as evident in my face. Turns out KFC was a decent roadtrip pitstop.
Spent the night along the way to break up the 12+ hour drive and arrived in Girona in the middle of a flower festival, THE flower festival of the year with absolutely nowhere to park, half the town blocked off to traffic, and shoulder to shoulder people. It made for a very interesting arrival to our apartment located smack dab in the center of the historic town. The ability to adjust to the unexpected continues to be one of the major tests of travel and I did not survive this one well. After multiple trips shuttling our luggage while Kristen sat in the car double-parked, I was none too impressed with our choice of location. Eventually Kristen found some parking in a gravel lot on the edge of town, and it was a good thing we had bikes with us.
Kristen was impressed with our plan.
Enough complaining. We greatly enjoyed the surprise flower festival. For many people in Girona over the weekend, it was a major event on their calendar, and we just happened upon it. Those are the best surprises.
We chose Girona because it is a cycling hotspot with tons of trails, dedicated bike paths, and rolling hills which attract cyclists from around the world including pro cycling teams. It is also a trendy, hipster hot spot with the coffee and food scene to match. Each morning we woke up to the smell of the nearby coffee roaster, and hit up a number of cafes serving decadent looking breakfasts. I can’t give the food quality 5 stars, but presentation is certainly top notch. It is a charming town with a fun cycling vibe and a number of boutique cycling shops. I (Quinn) have found my Spanish Mecca.
The birthplace of artist Salvador Dali is the town of Figueres, an hour drive from Girona. Before his death, he designed and constructed a museum to his art, where he is also now entombed. I won’t try to describe his life or art, but he is worth a google search. He sounds like a colorful character to put it mildly.
We did manage to get some cycling in as well, and I give Kristen credit for once again being a trooper, as we always manage to find ourselves descending a mountain road in the rain.
After Girona it was off to Puigcerda, deeper into the Spanish Pyrenees. In the drive there, we stopped to have a picnic and take a walk across this remarkable bridge in Besalu. No mountain town is complete without the quintessential donkey.
Puigerdà itself is an incredible mountain town. The valley is beautiful, food is delicious, and hiking and cycling are possible in every direction right from the front door. Within an hour drive the views are incredible, and the trails are all to us aside from some cattle and horses (and another donkey) in our path.
We had planned Puigcerda as the hiking portion of the trip and didn’t plan on much cycling. Turns out the cycling is every bit as incredible and we couldn’t help getting a few rides in. 
As has become a trend with us, one of our rides included carrying bikes, hiking with bikes, riding over a tiny bridge and riding down a flowing, curvy mountain road.
Puigcerda had a number of its own little charming cafes and it was easy to pass away some time sipping coffee while it was raining in the morning. Mountain town food is delicious and hardy and is also a good way to pass the time. This was all one course menu.
We took a side trip to Andorra That was a part of the reason we chose this location and thought it would be fun to see a country with such an interesting history. In short, it is on the border between France and Spain, and has a shared government, meaning that it is co-ruled by the King of Spain and the President of France. Now it functions as a sort of shopping and holiday destination with resorts and natural hot springs spas. We managed to find some Chinese noodles, and were pleased with the alternative. I dont’ expect we will be making our way back to Andorra any time soon, but there is bound to be some incredible hiking and biking deeper into the mountains. The Olympic MTB champion lives in Andorra.
For those who don’t know, Kristen is a consistent gym goer and insists in flexing on me frequently.
This featured blog entry was written by trackers from the blog ¡Global Nada!.
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