Girona.

Posted January 11, 2023

G-Town, as I like to call it. Where do I even begin?

This love hate relationship with one of the most beautiful places on earth, started in December 2022, when I was at home in Toronto and decided that I didn’t want to spend my winters in the snow anymore. So it was only natural that I turned to AirBnb and found a place for 10 months later, and booked it. 6 months to start, non-refundable and super beautiful – and right in the old town. Little did I know what I was going to get myself into, but like any other adventure I kind of only half-planned – this was going to somehow just work out; Partly because I committed and didn’t want to lose 12,000$ in rent money. I have weird ways to keep myself accountable. That’s one way to make sure I literally relocate somewhere. Ha.

There was excitement flowing in the air prior to me loading up my VW golf as if my life depended on it, and driving a quick 12 hours across the alps. Did I have expectations? Nah, never do. Avoids being disappointed in most cases. While I was driving down, I remember that my mind was in other places as I felt a little sad leaving my comfort zone behind and especially leaving heart broken. I do believe it’s hard to look forward to something new and exciting when heavy shit weighs on your heart or head.

I drove into town and upon arrival, I cracked my road bike as it fell onto my track bike and just snapped. Well, that was one way to actually force me to stay off my bike for two weeks of “rest”. I quickly got around town and found out where things were, and having a city bike helped immensely. It is a walking town full of so much history. Barcelona is 39 minutes away by train, and parking in town is free! I won’t even get started on the tapas restaurants, or the trails and the organic grocery stores for all my cooking needs. Oh the little things.

I didn’t have an issue making friends, or acquaintances. I embraced the town and the people and met everyone at whichever point they were at in their lives. For whatever reason it kept fighting me, and most things I wanted to do were not as easy as they normally are as I felt a very resistant energy in my body. With the good, comes the bad – and every town has it’s down side, especially a small place like this. But like everywhere else, when people are bored and have nothing better to do with their lives, they preoccupy themselves with other’s business. Classic.

The cycling community here is absolutely amazing. I was fortunate to meet and make some great local connections on the road, and in the gravel scene. I now am a part of a group of ladies called the Girona Gravel Girls, and we ride once a month and there are over 100 of us! Nice way to change things up a bit and take the scenic route for training seeing that I’m always on the road or on the track. Training is going very well; never would I have ever thought I would be riding 25h a week on top of my gym training, in the WINTER. It feels consistent and there are so many great routes here to go get lost on, now that my body can handle the long distances and the time in the saddle. Very grateful to be here, truly.

One of the challenges of moving here was that I didn’t know anyone, and didn’t know where to ride. I found myself saving Strava routes from locals, to just have direction. That quickly changed, and before I knew it I was buying a gravel bike to keep adding on to the two wheeled fun (I even bought a mountain bike…who am I?!)

I’m not one for eating out much, but after living in the middle of f*cking nowhere in a cow-town in Germany and not having access to more than one restaurant, I can definitely say I have been going out on a regular basis just to familiarize myself with the scene here. One thing I love is that I can now walk down the street on any day and I will see at least 8-10 different people that I know, whether it’s at my usual morning coffee place, Oniria, or when I go for pre-dinner wine at La Garrina. Yes, it is THAT small, and cozy and cute and full of culture and great people, if you know how to pick them 🙂