{"id":5422,"date":"2012-07-03T15:16:47","date_gmt":"2012-07-03T19:16:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tourdebocrie.com\/?p=5422"},"modified":"2015-07-02T15:12:18","modified_gmt":"2015-07-02T19:12:18","slug":"day-37-monday-july-2-malgrat-de-mar-to-figueres-spain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tourdebocrie.com\/?p=5422","title":{"rendered":"Day 37, Monday, July 2 – Malgrat de Mar to Figueres, Spain"},"content":{"rendered":"

We woke to a glorious morning. \u00a0The rain had washed away the hazy skies and hot temperatures. \u00a0Though the thermometer showed 70, it felt much cooler with the wind and the only thing left of the clouds were the ones that hung on the mountain peaks like snow. \u00a0That’s the good news! \u00a0The wind was in our face and the climbing on very busy roads began within two blocks,\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

but the cool air made it so much more bearable. \u00a0Despite the conditions it was gorgeous.\"\"<\/a>The conditions being climbing,\"\"<\/a>climbing\"\"<\/a> and more climbing,\"\"<\/a>but did we mention it was an absolutely gorgeous day?<\/p>\n

\"\"At our stop last night, we had the option to take the coast road or go inland, inland being the “easier” course. Can’t imagine what the coast road was like if this was easy! The inland route afforded us rich farmland<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>and beautiful green.\"\"<\/a>Sometime before noon, we had about a half an hour on a country side road that was blissful;\"\"<\/a>even saw sunflowers for the first time in weeks.\"\"<\/a>Passed through Girona, the only city along the course today; obviously steeped in history and architecture.\"\"<\/a>There were other tempting sights on the hills\"\"<\/a> and through the pastures.\"\"<\/a>By 2:00, as we started to drop from our last climb of the day, we got our first glimpse of the Pyrenees in the distance.\"\"<\/a>They are breathtakingly beautiful, though they grew larger and larger as we continued to bike.\"\"<\/a>We were checked into a hotel by three, after a particularly tough 54 miles with the mountains and wind. \u00a0But there were sights to see in the city, so off we went. \u00a0Salvador<\/strong> Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dal\u00ed<\/strong> i Domenech was born here in 1904, and his museum typifies him and\"\"<\/a> his quirky (if not, somewhat disturbing) art.\"\"<\/a>The city streets were narrow and filled with people \"\"<\/a>by the time we got to town. \u00a0So we joined them in their late afternoon stroll, until we spotted a tower\"\"<\/a>we had to explore. \u00a0The Parish Church of Sant Pere (Saint Peter) is from the 13th and 14th centuries;\"\"<\/a>it’s inside is simple and yet grand,<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

the stained glass breathtaking.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Found a quirky little place for dinner<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>(those are ink pens that line the wall). \u00a0Since it was our last day in Spain, we decided on paella for dinner, which was outstanding,\u00a0\u00a0\"\"<\/a>Of course, there was a bottle of wine (we will miss Rioja) and delicious salad, an appetizer of stuffed ‘something’ with cheese and topped with a divine sauce, along with tuna empanadas. \u00a0All in all, a great evening for our final night in Spain. \u00a0Tomorrow we climb these mountains.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We will miss Spain and it’s people (and wine), but on to the next country and adventure.\n\t\t