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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Categories: Art, cookbooks, Exotic Travel, Food, food blog, Food Review, Memoirs, Recipes, Restaurants, Spain, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir
johnrieber 
Yum!
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We ate a beautiful Paella in Mijas on the Costa Del Sol quite a few times every year when we visited… I think I have perfected it now having eaten so many and we love it 🙂 some amazing images John 🙂 x
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Thanks Carol, I’m making another one Saturday night and will share the recipe next week! Glad all is well and you are safe..we are making strides here finally, now that we have real leadership!
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Ohhh, sounds lovely, enjoy, John …Yes it does sound as if things are picking up and going in the right direction 🙂 Have a great weekend 🙂 x
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Excellent! Barcelona was already on the Springer Bucket List.
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My wife and I LOVED it! Magical city, incredibly friendly and relaxed…a country we plan to visit again, using that city as a base!
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I thought I recognized that market! Beautiful Barcelona! I can’t wait to travel to Europe again. Gorgeous photos and great story, John!
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Thanks for reading!
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A lovely trip! Cadaques looks like my type of town. I loved Barcelona and next time I will venture to the NW. Thanks for sharing John.
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The paella looks amazing, John. I am very keen to visit Spain.
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It was incredible and we are heading back!
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When are you planning to travel, John? Have you had your vaccination yet?
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Robbie, our plans have us going to Europe in June…no vaccinations yet but President Biden, showing leadership that we lacked before, just announced that he is getting enough doses so that every adult can get a shot by May…hooray!
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That is great news, John. A lot of people I know in the USA have had their shots. Its the same with the UK. It will be splendid if you can visit Spain in June.
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I love paella and have mastered making it! Before we moved here, we spent a week in Denia on the Costa Blanca, where we had some amazing paella. We went back to the restaurant three times so I could try three different paellas, all so good. Denia is not far from Valencia, the paella capital of Spain. Too bad you couldn’t find Salvador Dalo’s house. Signage is often a problem here. It took us 3 hours to find our hotel in Granada once.
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Darlene, we just watched a “House Hunters International” and Valencia was the city featured…wow, incredible! We LOVED Spain and just got a small taste of it, but it’s high on our “must return” list! Thanks for commenting always great to hear from you! Question: what age range do you give your “Amanda” books? Curious where you think the age begins for enjoying them…going to share again next week!
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The target market is 8 to 12 years old but younger children have read and enjoyed them and some as old as 80 have enjoyed them!!
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Perfect -thanks!
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Looks like a wonderful trip to Spain! Hopefully our traveling days will return soon. And I have never seen such long claws on shrimp before, so I had to look up ‘langoustines!’
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As someone with a fish phobia, including any kind of food from the sea, I had to skip a couple of the seafood photos 😂 Spain has some incredible scenery and the architecture of some of the buildings is amazing. Shame about the weather in Cadaques and the lack of directions. This is where mobile internet & Google maps with GPS comes in handy! x
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I have only ever met one other person with a fish phobia. I included a character in my latest book, Amanda in Malta, who has a fish phobia. I have a phobia too, but not of fish. I can’t look at pictures of that animal either. I agree, the scenery and history in Spain is amazing.
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Oh no! I grew up in Seattle, where fish are an everyday part of our life! Yes, Cadaques was disastrous…but all part of the adventure of life1. Thanks so much for reading and commenting, always great to hear from you!
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You found a great place to try that dish, John.
I have eaten a lot of Paella, both in Barcelona, and in London. But it was mostly ‘tourist paella’, and just ‘okay’. Your paella looks first rate!
Best wishes, Pete.
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Pete, I made some at home last weekend and am doing so again this weekend and will share my effort, good or bad! Thanks for reading!
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