to Besalu and Vic

:: March 29 - March 31 ::

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March 29

Besalu

The small medieval town of Breslau with its cobblestone streets, was a pleasant place to take a walk through the central plaza, past the Benedictine monastery church, Sant Pere, renovated in 1160. 

A beautifully preserved Romanesque bridge--thought to have been built in the 11^th century on an existing Roman bridge over the Fluvia River and rebuilt in the 14^th century--is fortified with arches and defense towers. 

The Catalan language is used in this part of Spain. Linguists consider it a fully separate Romance language--not a dialect of Spanish. However, everybody seems to speak Spanish/Castellano as  their fluent second language and speak it in a way that is quite friendly to our Central-America-trained ears. Most written signs and tourist-friendly information are multi-lingual, but, when not, we try to guess our ways to a translation. This sign is a fun example.   It is obviously tells us what hours the place is open and thanks us for coming, but on what days is it open? Except for Sunday, Catalan's day names derive from the number-place each day holds in the week--not that knowing that makes it obvious. This office is open on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

March 29-30

Vic

Vic presented itself with the comfort and appeal worthy of a long stay. 

Hotel Les Clarisses, inside a remodeled 1600s mansion in the university town of Vic, was our comfortable lodging for the night and sunny morning. 

A beautiful and creative assortment of tapas at the El Bohemi restaurant were our dinner delight-- especially the crafted cheese flowers and the desserts of exotic ice-cream flavors.

A light rain began that evening. In the morning Benny and Marney explored in more detail--in and outside some of the surviving walls. 

The maps at street level of the historic, medieval center and metal plates in the pavement is helpful signage for walking self-guided tours around the old city.

A Roman Temple, built during the 2nd century--one of two in Spain to have been preserved almost in its entirety--now features art exhibits. Because a castle had been built around it, the temple was in amazingly good condition when discovered in the mid 1882 as the castle was demolished. 

The Vic cathedral of Saint Peter the Apostle was built around 1038, with renovations in 1803, presents Romanesque, Gothic, Neoclassical and Baroque styles. 

     What fun to come across murals: "Without art, there is no revolution." 

We continue to see the political wishes of many in Catalonia on signs throughout this region.

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photos by Marney and Bob and by Benny Sintobin