Girona really is the must-see capital of the Costa Brava. And so we could make the most of our trip, we looked up what the best things to do were before we arrived. Bit confused to discover that the top attractions were

• To take a hot air balloon ride over the city
• To eat icecream
• To eat crepes
• To look at the flora and fauna

Still, we are approaching geriatric status so we decided to make the most of this gentle city and rocked up to our B&B – a delightful place called the Montjuic B&B at the top of a hill overlooking the town (a bit of luxury – quite pricey, and breakfast is extra; but it really is a beautiful place). No need for the balloon ride, then, with the fabulous views we have from our terrace… but forget the gentle stroll through leafy gardens looking at flowers while we nosh on our crepes: there’s a mammoth hill with 289 steps and several steep inclines between us and the town! Going down is easy – we just roll (we’ve eaten enough this holiday); but coming back up…. we had to establish base camp and buy proper gear before we could set off.

Anyway, it’s a pretty city as you can see – and we’d like to rewrite the list of top attractions:

• We really enjoyed the old town with its cobbled streets and its winding passageways.
• We had some fantastic meals at bargain prices – especially in Txalaka, a traditional Basque restaurant that served a great menu del dia – including wine.
• We popped into the Cinema Museum, which proved to be a morning’s full entertainment, tracing the history of film back to shadow puppets and Chinese lanterns, and boasting hundreds of old magic lanterns, daguerreotypes, camera obscura, and photographs. There were loads of hands-on gadgets for the (big) kids to experiment with. Definitely a must-see attraction when you’re in town.
• Walking the walls is also worth doing if the weather’s not too hot (which it is in the day in August!)
• And did we mention those crepes? Nutella and Crema Catalan was the pick of the day!

And we also caught a few rays sitting by the pool of the Montjuic B&B. No wonder John Lennon found Girona an idyllic spot (there are John Lennon gardens). So did we!