Besalú and Girona

I will start off by saying that today was an absolutely beautiful day! The past few days have been cold and rainy and just plain miserable. Today we has gorgeous weather for our trip to Besalú and Girona, two former Roman cities with Jewish influence.

Besalú is home to a miqvé or a Jewish bath. The Jewish bath in Besalú is one of the only discovered baths in Spain. Besalú is a beautiful, quaint city in the Catalonian countryside. There are only 14,000 people in the city at most. Today they were holding a Festival of the Jews and had nice markets set up on the streets. They had candles, soaps, dried fruits, fresh bread (they were making it as you walked by), cheese, lip balm, ointments, and so many other things. Dale and I decided to split a loaf of grain bread and cheese (cow cheese to be exact; they also had goat, sheep, and horse). The bread is delicious, and I plan on savoring every last bit of it and the cheese! After going to see the miqvé, we went and saw the Benedictine Monastery and square. There really wasn't much to the monastery, but it was beautiful all the same! After finishing our short tour we were able to wander around the small city for a couple hours. We went into a few shops, got coffee at a cafe overlooking the river, bought a few things, and then Dale and I walked down to the river to take a couple pictures before heading back to the bus. Here are some pictures from Besalú:

 The gates into the city. 

 The bridge into Besalú. 

 The miqvé

 The miqvé again

 The Benedictine Monastery

 The Synagogue 

After finishing up in Besalú, we hopped back onto the bus and headed towards Girona. The Roman walls are located in Girona. Girona is much larger than Besalú, but has a lot of Jewish history as well. We didn't get to spend as much time here, but I did get some yummy gelato! Here are some pictures from Girona:

 The Jewish Quarter 

 Part of the Roman wall

 The Roman wall

 View from the Roman wall 

The statue the Roman soldiers had to kiss in order to return to Girona

 
I hope you enjoy the pictures from Besalú and Girona!

This week has been a bit on the stressful side with midterms, evaluations, and presentations. I was very glad when Friday came and I had nothing planned. The rain helped me decide to stay in, curl up in bed, and start another book. I am looking forward to Rome next weekend! The next 3 weeks are going to be crazy busy but exciting. Next weekend I have Rome, the weekend after that we are off to the Pyrenees, then Isaac comes, and then my parents are here. Needless to say, I can't wait! My time here is quickly coming to an end and it is so hard to believe. I am so grateful for this opportunity and have made so many memories along the way. I can't wait to get back and share them with everyone!

Happy March! Hope everyone had a good week!

xoxo
Kelcey