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…and just a few hours away from that vibrant city.

I posted about our Spain trip before, but while we looked at this gorgeous scenery, I forgot to share the memorable adventure we had while overlooking this rugged coast…

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…

Hey Sal!

Yes, it would have been too easy to say “Hello Dali!” This statue is in the seaside town of Cadaques, home of Artist Salvador Dali.

Right at the water’s edge is a beautiful life-size statue honoring the iconic Artist. 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 were virtually no directions to find the Museum that celebrates Dali!

It seemed that the favorite pastime was to chuck rocks into the water. While they did that, we struggled to figure out where the Museum was. At the time, our navigation options by phone were less sophisticated there!

The guidebook said it was a 15-min. walk from the center of town, but we didn’t see any signs pointing us toward the museum. And of course, I left the book at the hotel. We went south along the water and saw more ferry boats landing, but no one seemed to be heading toward a museum…

As you can see, the harbor is small, so after a few minutes we turned and headed north…the water is beautiful, but the grey clouds looked heavy with rain, so we walked a bit faster, stopping to buy a couple of sweatshirts – because it was COLD!

We saw a broad walking path along the water, and since we didn’t see a sign anywhere, this must be the route to the museum, right?

There were lots of people around, but no sign of a large egg-shaped roof – and no signs for a Salvadore Dali museum at all..and suddenly, our 11a reservation seemed at risk…the spanish clock was ticking!

We were now well outside town, easily more than the fifteen minute walk we were anticipating, but there was nothing to suggest a museum nearby…so we turned around and hustled back to town…

Sensing out Dali dalliance was going horribly awry, I found a sign for a tourist office and we headed in…

“Goodbye Dali!”

Well, it turns out that the museum is 15 minutes BY CAR – and the only walking route is a small alleyway at the north end of town – AN UNMARKED ALLEY!

Yes, it was just to the right of this building – and there was no way we were going to make it to the museum before our reservation time, and we were told it was sold out for the next two months! 

Needless to say, we weren’t amused, so we decided to grab a bite to eat, as it was now beginning to rain!

I have posted about Spain’s incredible food, and we found a small cafe on the water…as always, Alex never let things get her down, even as we sat inside and watched Cadaques rain…

Our Traditional Spanish Meal!

We had the traditional spanish peasant bread, which is toasted and then rubbed with fresh tomato…it’s a dish everyone eats in Spain because everyone can afford it. Most restaurants serve it exactly like this, with some olive oil to drizzle on if you like:

We also ordered a plate of Iberico ham – another traditional dish in Spain – and equally delicious:

And then Alex caught me taking her picture…

The breakfast was really good, so we waited out the rain and decided that Dali’s museum would wait for another time…

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:

Spain was truly magical – while we loved the food on the Costa Brava, we also loved two incredible Barcelona restaurants:

Cal Pep is amazing – pop in for a bite of something like this!

Click here to see more of that terrific meal:

The city also has an incredible food market as well!

The Boqueria has handing Iberico hams and so much more, and we sampled it all – you can see that food adventure here:

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Categories: Art, Exotic Travel, Food, Memoirs, Pop Culture, Spain, Talent/Celebrities, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir, Wacky Food

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