Girona

Girona, the City.

September 25, 2013 by Julie Shipman

Girona, a city in Catalonia, Spain. A wee bit of history so bear with me. Originally, Gerunda, a city of Iberians, it has been home to the Romans, Visigoths and the Moors. Charlemagne conquered Girona in 785 and built the great city wall. In fact, today, the longest remaining section of Carolingian Wall in all of Europe is the eastern city wall in Girona. The rest of the wall was removed in the late 1800’s so the city could expand. Tourists can walk this wall for a great city view and a feel of the Middle Ages! It is known as the Passeig de la Muralla.

Either a Royal Pooper, or a Sneaky Way to Pour Burning Oil on your Enemies as they Attack the Wall!! What do you think??

Incredible view of Girona from the Wall…

One of the Old City Gates entering Girona.

In the 12th century, Girona became an important city for the Jews and had one of the best Jewish schools in Europe. The Rabbi of Girona was known as the Great Rabbi of Catalonia. However, like many other cities throughout Europe, the Jews were expelled in 1492 by the Catholic Kings. Today, the Jewish Quarter (ghetto) is one of the best preserved in Spain.

Girona endured 25 sieges and was captured 7 times. It took 35,000 Napoleonic troops over 7 months to capture the city ~ only after famine and disease forced them to surrender.

Today, Girona is a vibrant city with great art, food, culture and shopping. So, nice to walk down the ancient cobblestoned streets and visit the local merchants… oh, wait!

But seriously, there are many quaint local vendors!

Yum, yes please!

I want one of those corkscrews! Oh, and beautiful music…

Closing with a few random pics of interest… Below is scaffolding to hold up the two buildings on either side of the one removed, as they build a new one! Cool!

And, love the graffiti all over Spain. Some is obnoxious, some is interesting. Is it art or vandalism? Two images below.

I believe this translates into Dare to Change the World but don’t hold me to it. My Spanish is as good as my Korean.

And, a few more images of Girona on the River…

Goodnight.

Back to Girona…

September 20, 2013 by Julie Shipman

The end of the journey. Last day on the bikes and back inland to Girona. Lots of miles in the saddle today although I was able to skip a few by excusing myself to “take photos.” Another truly spectacular day and one of the highlights was the young Atlas Jemison who accompanied me as my assistant. Please note that a few of today’s pics are hers, and I caught her in action shooting today as well.

Here is the start of the day as we leave Calella.

Outstanding ride through the countryside to more medieval villages… riding over cobblestones and doing the local “round-a-bout” through town…

Cats are everywhere in Spain… figured we couldn’t have a social media post without a cat!

Lunch time!

Below: photo credit Atlas Jemison, age 12, capturing the riders coming through the grove of trees. Atlas has a great sense of composition already!

See Atlas below, left bottom corner. A very quick learner with a great eye!

Thanks for a GREAT trip Marty!

Back in Girona… photo credit Atlas Jemison.

The 12 year old artist, Atlas J.

The much older artist below, Julie, photo credit Atlas. Love the way she captured me shooting the riders as we passed them.

THANKS FOR JOINING US! WE HAD SO MUCH FUN. JEMISON TOURS AND COSTA BRAVA ROCKS!

Calella 2!

September 20, 2013 by Julie Shipman

Two nights in one place gave us the opportunity to rest a bit… a few options: a long ride with Marty, a short scenic ride with Jill or a rest day. Since I went on the Jill ride (duh!), I only have photos from that. But, wow. Such an incredibly beautiful place.

The girls (except CONNIE!) went to the botanic gardens, Jardí Botanic de Cap Roig. They are spectacular. The grounds are enormous. The home and gardens were built by a Russian aristocrat for his love, over 100 years ago. Since their affair was somewhat taboo at the time (they each divorced to be together), they escaped to this reclusive estate by the sea. But, they did entertain and throw lavish parties now and then. While the villa looks Spanish in style, his Russian heritage (he was an architect/builder) is evident in several features throughout the property. Upon their death, they left their estate to the city of Calella where they enjoyed so many years together. The money derived from the gardens goes back into tending them for future generations, education for local school children and several music festivals for locals and tourists to enjoy at a great amphitheater overlooking the sea. What a legacy!

This is actually an iron window (with glass) built into the wall for a view!

Local artists are represented among the grounds. Highly unique (mostly modern) sculptures — of all varieties — are scattered throughout. Jill helped us to translate this piece.

Ended our little excursion with lunch by the sea. Grilled vegetables, goat cheese salad and the local favorite, Mojitos!

Back to the beach for an afternoon siesta/fiesta!

Does this local gentleman perhaps think we are a bit of the “obnoxious American”?

Gorgeous night with full moon reflecting on the sea. Off to dinner and then goodnight. Last ride is tomorrow.

Ride to Osor

September 16, 2013 by Julie Shipman

Today we rode to Osor, a very small ancient town in the hills outside of Girona, with only one place to eat; our restaurant was the home of the local Boar Hunting Club. We did have a random assortment of “meat” for lunch. Did not occur to me until this minute that perhaps it was boar?

No, we weren’t mountain biking… although Bo looks like he might be.

And there’s Osor…

One blue eye… a very interesting mix! I’m guessing Catahoula and Dalmation. What do you think?

Can you tell the time above?

The girls walking to lunch… Brigitta (Portland) , Stanna (SLC) and Penny (Oakley/Nantucket).

After our break, another great ride up and down back to Girona. Funny how talented I am to get these shots while riding my bike… hhhmmmm.

Marty J leads the pack! with Pav close behind…

Thumbs Up, Cliff!

JP, bike mechanic extraordinaire… and a great guide.

Always a smile on Rick, followed by Paul (the X man) and Keith…

Ever supportive and smiling… Keith B!

Stanna.

Jill and Penny.

And, time to call it a day. All that picture-taking really wore me out!

Connie and Jill J

Bo.

Rick.

Scott.

The boys coming in from the “hard way…”

Connie and JP sharing the subtle joys found with a tube of dznuts.

Guess Who? It could only be Connie B…

And it’s our fearless leader! Marty J!

As we round the Round-a-Bout back into Girona… a smiling Haystack welcomes us Home!

And, before the day is done, dinner out again in Girona… an absolutely beautiful city on the river.

…crossing the bridge back to the hotel. Night. (Bridge seen above is same as below.)

Girona

September 15, 2013 by Julie Shipman

Took a train northeast to Girona this morning to begin our bike trip. Apparently, Girona is a home base to many pro cyclists as the riding is so varied and accessible here. It’s beautiful!

We checked into the hotel and wandered a bit. Lunch, beer, wine… of course; we were meeting at 5 pm for our “intro” ride. I decided after the intro ride, that I would be quite content if that were the extent of the climbs for the entire journey. However, after dinner this evening, I was informed that tomorrow’s ride is somewhere around 3-4 times the climb and it will be “great.” In all truthfulness, my butt was the VERY first one a car would see as it passed our peloton. Being FIRST in this case, is not something to be excited about. Even our support guy in the rear, JP, was well ahead of me, turning around every now and then to make sure I was not on the side of the road…

While I was rather pathetic on the uphill, I LOVE the downhill. I was right on Marty’s butt! How fun is that? I kept thinking to myself that this guy has been in the Tour de France and I am riding on his rear tire. Kinda fun, for a minute… I watched the way he moved his legs as he turned, or stood, and tried to figure out if there was anything I could do better. However, for Marty this was an afternoon “stroll” during which he probably wasn’t even thinking about form or style, just getting these 14 ducklings back to their hotel.

Note: read, please, this piece of content about bikes.

After the ride, We celebrated for a bit in the bar and then walked through Girona to a wonderful little restaurant and dined well on the Spanish version of crepes. Delicious!!

Time for bed. Tomorrow’s ride…

Going to Spain!

September 12, 2013 by Julie Shipman

Congratulations to Jemison Cycling Tours on celebrating their 10th Anniversary Trip in Girona!

Here I Go! Cycling Spain with a Pro… a tour through Girona with Marty Jemison

I first met Marty Jemison in high school. I was 16. I recall riding in the back of a pick-up truck with him, in weather that was much too cold. It was the 80’s… seat belts? safety precautions? We weren’t so good at that stuff. The beauty was there were no cell phones either so our mothers never really knew how stupid we were… (as if we moms have a handle on it now! Hah!).

Fast-forward 30 years. I now live in Park City, Utah, the home of JEMISON Cycling Tours. A friend talked me into signing up for Jemison’s signature tour through Spain guided by none other than Marty himself. What makes this interesting is that I’m quite a beginner when it comes to biking, especially every day for many miles. I’ve been trying to train for this “vacation” but I find I’m more interested in the scenery than my MPH, RPMs, cadence, velocity, or whatever. After my first 20-mile training ride, I felt like I had just finished a stage of the Tours in Europe I used to do! Yahoo! It hasn’t gotten much better. Luckily, I’ve been told that Marty offers wonderful side trips AND there is always the ‘broom wagon’ to sweep my butt off the pavement.

aka, the SAG wagon... — aka, the SAG wagon… providing much-needed support for cyclists on long rides or races.

Who is Marty Jemison? Briefly, he started his racing career in Utah in 1987. By 1989, he was a Category 1 racer. In 1993, he began riding for the US National Team and won the US Amateur Road Racing Championships. From 1995-2000, he rode for the US Postal Team including two Tour de France races where he finished 96^th and 48^th, as well as 5^th in Stage 13.

After living in Girona for 6 years while riding in the Professional Peloton, Marty and his wife, Jill, decided to share their love of this incredible region in Spain with others and created JEMISON Cycling Tours. The GIRONA tour is their Signature Tour and this September is the 10^th Anniversary of a dream-come-true: a successful cycling tour business. I will have the privilege of sharing it with them.

Join me (and my camera), Marty, Jill, and others on this 10^th Anniversary Tour as I post a photo blog detailing the highlights. If I can’t make it up the hill (quite likely) I am assured of fantastic hiking, museums, ancient ruins, art, spas, cultural experiences and great food & wine. I am looking forward to sampling the region’s local choice, Rioja! Stay tuned.