While in Empordà, we had a chance to visit the famous Flower Festival in Girona. This event, 40 years old now, invites citizens of this lovely ancient city to decorate their homes and streets in flowers and artwork. In addition, people open their houses to the street so strangers can file in and enjoy the work.
Even the river gets into the action, with a 3 meter-wide floating flower.
In the museums, flowers are appropriately framed.
In the ancient Muslim bathhouse, we discovered a veritable cornucopia of beauty.
On the roof, virtual rabbits played in a virtual carrot garden, to everyone's delight, especially theirs.
Here, proof that both the citizens and their mannequins threw themselves into the project.
Surveying it all, a modern gargoyle and an ancient one shared the view.
We were even interviewed by the local news crew, wondering what a large group of Americans with black teeth were doing hanging out drinking beer.
Art and beauty in the city were not ephemeral like the flowers, here a metal door beckons hungry travelers.
Open doorways invited people to peek inside, though everything was carefully protected by bars.
The modern artwork was juxtaposed nicely with the ancient, more permanent one.
Ever appreciative of beauty, even the French had given something to the city: this bridge, designed and built by the Eiffel company, you know, the folks who brought you that little tower in Paris.
It looked like a Spanish, one-river version of Venice, with narrow, brightly-colored buildings, all neat and proper on one side, all festooned in garlands of flowers on the other.
We ended our day at Mimolet, where we enjoyed a fantastic meal of local foods, finishing up well past midnight. The next day we would all head back out into the world, with fond and flowery memories of our time in Empordà.
Cheers!
1 comment:
that's an awesome festival, really want to see that for real.
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