The Cho Joins the Chew!

~Girona, Spain

   

The Chew		The View
Chocolate-filled xiuxius		Girona's Jewish El Call Museum

2/5/09: A Jewish street, a Muslim bathhouse, a Gothic Cathedral. These are the standouts of a city just north of Barcelona called Girona.

I found myself in transit at 9am armed with my backpack and a student travelbook, sitting in a half-empty bus and seeing a countryside that looked more like the East Coast of the US than the Costa Brava de Espana. I was on a mission to pick up my dear high school friend, Janice Cho, from the budget airport in Girona--but my goal was more than that. The more that I stay in Barcelona (as my roommates are currently gallivanting in Paris), the more I'm seduced by the siren's call of Spain. This is a country where a 3-hour bus ride will take you from a bustling cosmopolitan city to una ciudad known for historic flamenco and bullfighting (think Valencia, Alicante, Sevilla).

We met up at the bus station, and I had the surreal experience of seeing an old friend in a new place. As you'll see in the photos, we're still our same, old, silly selves!

We crossed the Onyar river that divides the old city from the new city, and I was instantly reminded of the divide between old and new Barcelona. Where I live is called Ciutat Vella, or Old City, because it used to be the palace grounds that was covered in city walls. In Girona, the old city has an amazing blend of repressed Jewish, hints of Muslim, and heady overtones of Catholic cultures.

But before our trek into the past, we had to make a stop for:

• xiuxius (pronounced "shoo-shoos"): A Girona specialty doughnut rolled in sugar and filled with chocolate cream.

Since I don't drink coffee, that was my energy boost for the morning. Time for the sights.

Catedral de Girona 

With its 1000-year old tapestry in devotion to Christianity, I was overwhelmed by how much those walls must have seen. Back track 1000 years, and you would find an unblemished landscape in the States. In Europe, this was in the midst of religious warfare and impending persecution.

Banos Arabes

 Janice's pushing and a student entry fee of 1 euro got me in here. Ironic how chilly a bathhouse could be, although we found out later this was the "cold room"--located next to the hot room. Perhaps the temperature difference was good for the pores?
While this was built in the style of Arabic bathhouses, it wasn't a direct remnant of the Moors.

The Jewish "Call"

As is usually the case, the Jews had a very turbulent history in this part of the world. While they were welcomed with open arms and government finances in the early 1000s (for their stable contribution to the economy), they then became scapegoats for the ravages of the Black Plague 300 years later. Soon, they were relegated to an area of Girona known as the "Call," and when they left that area to enter the rest of the city, were forced to wear special badges~

 

Very Scarlet Letter.

Even though it only took us 5 hours to see most of the main sights, it was a trip well worth it. There were no tourists to elbow through, no pickpockets to trigger my paranoia. Apparently, Girona was ranked one of the best places to live by local Spaniards. This Indian restaurant I stumbled over (literally, those cobblestone streets are a bitch) is probably the reason why~

My hankering for Gobi Aloo was certainly rewarded. In the end, my cravings are not for a specific food but rather for the whole genre of foods at our disposal back in Los Angeles. Tapas and touristy paella are plentiful, Italian is expensive, Mexican is rare, Thai even rarer, Chinese and Korean are non-existent. Care packages anyone?

Off to a pub for Super Bowl,
The Chew