Leaving Jaca we climbed up into the mountains peaking at 1250 meters with the most spectacular views of the Pyranees we have seen in a long time,  unfortunately there wasn’t anywhere to stop to take photos  or I would have filled my SD card on my camera 😦

The pass lead us down into Huesca, one of the places we constantly hear about on the news due to flooding or other issues … at least we have now been there and know where it is!!

It is a pretty place, but to be fair – the new town is far nicer than the historic center which felt a little bit of a mish mash of new and old without any real soul – very strange.  We parked in a car park which was close to the stadium but an easy walk into the center (GPS n42 8’8 w0 25’11) and despite the campsite being closed we were alone for the night which is a first in a long while as we normally have company in one form or another….perhaps everyone else knew something we were unaware of as despite appearing to be a tranquil location, it was a fairly noisy (although un-eventful, thankfully) night!

Moving on in the morning should have taken us to ‘Lleida’ or ‘Lerida’ depending on whether you use the Spanish or Catalan name however, when we arrived at the Aire which was also Motorhome repair/accessories place it looked a little run down and coupled with the fact that it was 7km outside the town we decided to give it a miss and continue our journey to Vic.

Having travelled recently in Portugal we keep forgetting that non toll-roads can actually be fairly good, almost motorway-like, making the journey pleasant and not a chore 🙂

In contrast to Lleida, upon arriving at Vic (GPS n41 56’3 e2 14’24) we found greenery, wildlife and open space and immediately felt at home listening to the birds chirping.  We did a quick reccy to find the laundrette and market – little chores that you get used to when travelling in a Motorhome – and then settled in for evening cooking up a delicious casserole using some of the incredible chorizo and sausage we bought from Jaca.

The evening passed tranquilly with a few additional motorhomes arriving into the night…. The last of which appeared to have mis-judged the space as all we heard was a ‘crunch’ before the engine stopping.  When the sun started to shine – it was brief – and we rose from the Motorhome there wasn’t any damage to be seen, so who knows what happened – perhaps it was the police when they were taking down number plates…..

Vic is known for its Pork produce, specifically ‘Fuet’ which is a type of dried sausage with herbs and spices, so in the morning we set off to see what the market had to offer.

As it was Saturday, in addition to the normal indoor market there was another in the ‘Plaza Mayor’ offering everything from underwear and pots and pans to live chickens, which despite the grey skies and rain falling still managed to create quite an atmosphere.  Miraculously returning back to the same spot a few hours later and the place had transformed back into a Plaza Mayor….

Vic has a certain feel to it which we haven’t seen in a while.  There were more delicatessens, fishmongers and specialist gourmet shops than you could imagine and the price of the produce was a good 30% higher than we have seen elsewhere in Spain. Ashamadely, demonstrating the wealth in Catalunia in comparison to the rest of Spain…. It is no-wonder that they want independence.

Begrudgingly leaving the tranquility of Vic behind (it was raining and the Aire was maximum 48 hours) we headed to Girona through clouds arriving at a little Aire for motorhomes (GPS n41 59’2 e2 48’49) which is part of a car park close to the park and river.

Somehow we managed to time our walk to coincide with a break in the clouds and it was dry…. We may have even seen the sun trying to break through 🙂   By shear co-incidence, Girona is celebrating the arrival of Spring with its ‘festival of flowers’, holding exhibits all over the city – Pretty spectacular…

Girona is a beautiful city with everything you could ask for and we are glad we came back as it has been a while since we have been here, but we will definately be back.  Having eaten and drunk our way through Spain we are now ready to move on.  Tomorrow we move over to France to gorge on all those fantastic French wines, cheeses and chocolate …. Let’s just hope the sun will start shining 🙂