Who’s Up For A Food Adventure? These Guys Are!

This plate of colorful Langoustines are waiting for me to turn them into an amazing Spanish Paella – and it reminded me that I had some work to do in order to match the incredible version my wife and I got on the Costa Brava in Spain!

Welcome To Spain’s “Wild Coast!”

You are looking at Spain’s Costa Brava, their “wild coast”, located just northwest of Barcelona…it is gorgeous, isolated, and pristine…even when Alex had to take a few work calls, what better place to do so…

Of course, as incredible as the scenery is, the memorable meal we had while overlooking this rugged coast was even better!

Say Yes To “The Mas”!

When we were lucky enough to visit Spain’s Costa Brava, we stayed at the amazing Mas de Torrent hotel two hours outside of Barcelona…

Mas de Torrent is perfectly situated for exploring Spain’s Costa Brava, since there is a major highway nearby, as well as a LOT of small roads that take you on a visual journey into the past…

Many of our trips took us through small towns and villages, and one day we ended up at Mas de Torrent’s sister hotel, Hotel El Far de Sant Sebastia, located nearby in Palafrugell, which overlooks the Mediterranean Sea…

The hotel’s restaurant is perched on a cliff that overlooks the Mediterranean, and as you arrive, you park your car near a lighthouse. Before you head in to eat you can spend a few more minutes checking out the amazing view…..

The restaurant was located inside the hotel, with an outside terrace overlooking the sea. Once we were seated, we noticed that the restaurant’s “specials” for the day were posted on a chalkboard…

Even with limited ability to read spanish, we realized that seafood was the way to go…and of course, we started immediately with some spanish wine!

One thing we loved about spanish cuisine: you always began with a spanish tradition: peasant bread and ham…this bread is rubbed with fresh tomato and garlic, and topped with a touch of olive oit….the ham is of course, Iberico….

We were also told to order the restaurant’s specialty, which is also noted on the chalkboard as well:

Bring On The Paella!

The restaurant was known for their paella, which is cooked in a classic paella pan – we got their seafood version, as you can see from the shrimp and mussels that were baked in a very hearty spanish rice…

And of course, they give you more bread to make your own “peasant” style version as needed…

Afterwards, you can head back outside to take a walk along the cliffs – and everywhere you turn you see another beautiful and pristine piece of the “Costa Brava”…

As you can imagine, this is a popular tourist destination, but I never felt that the Costa Brava was crowded…there was plenty of room for everyone…with the exception of Cadaques…so let’s depart this quiet, beautiful lunch and search out one of Spain’s most legendary Artists…

Hello Dali!

That never gets old.

Here is a beautiful life-size statue honoring Salvadore Dali. As successful as our paella adventure was, our attempt to see the legendary Artists home and museum was the opposite!

The small town of Cadaques is serene – when you are down by the water…but in the center of town it was crowded, windy and a bit rainy – and there are virtually no directions to find the place!

It seemed that that favorite pastime was to chuck rocks into the water in defeat. You can read all about our “Salvadore Dali misadventure” by clicking on my story here:

https://johnrieber.com/2013/11/02/searching-for-salvadore-dali-our-costa-brava-adventure-hello-dali/

So we never saw Dali’s house, but we did see some amazing medieval villages…

A Bike Tour Into The Past!

Another fascinating aspect of the region are the medieval spanish villages that populate the area, and you can bike between several of them!

You can see that adventure by clicking on my link here:

https://johnrieber.com/2014/12/01/cycling-through-wild-spain-biking-costa-bravas-medieval-villages/

Of course, we also visited some of Barcelona’s legendary food halls!

“La Boqueira” is the city’s famous food hall….massive, filled with incredible places to sit down and eat, and of course, those incredible, hanging Iberico Hams…

Click here for the full tour and to find out what we gorged on!

https://johnrieber.com/2013/06/12/barcelonas-famous-boqueira-food-stalls-tapas-hanging-ham/

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https://johnrieber.com

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