Advertisement
Published: August 13th 2012
Edit Blog Post
To say we woke in the morning would have been untrue. The windstorm had been channelled through our pitch all night by the trees at either side. At times this had begun collapsing the tent with it's force, leaving us hoping the pegs I'd managed to hammer home were going to stay put. Meanwhile outside the tent sounded to us like a small scale mining operation, with the sporadic 'tink, tink' of people attempting in vain to re-install tent pegs into the arid, rock-hard ground. We opted for an early shower and to grab breakfast somewhere en-route that morning. Fighting for space to shower with the local ants and other small wildlife was an experience that was only added to by the rudimentary shack used as a shower block. This being our last night in a tent we took less care in packing and rolled everything into the boot and headed off south.
We've both been fans of Salvador Dali's work for some time, and, reading a few of the guides that we had with us, found we were heading to what had been referred to as 'Daliland'. This area is drawn up by a triangle from his
house in the north at Port Lligat thru the museum at Figueres down to the castle he decorated for his wife in Pubol. Low on food and caffeine we headed for the nearest major town of Figueres in search of breakfast. Our first port of call in the town was a market we'd spotted while finding a car park. We were amazed to find a cornucopia of products on sale, most of the food stalls had our mouths watering in anticipation. We selected some salad ingredients and some very reasonably priced cured meat to eat throughout the day. While in town we went to have a look around the museum to Dali located on a bit of a hill on the edge of the town centre. We were amazed at the outside of the building, standing out from its surroundings with vibrant salmon pink walls and gold coloured sculptures. Venturing round the outside brought us to a small square containing the entrance. Now nearing mid-day there was a substantial queue leaving the entrance and winding round a fountain in the centre of the square. As the temperature was nearing 40 degrees we thought the shaded haven of the castle might
provide the escape from the heat we were looking for, so headed off to recover the car, again skilfully left on the opposite side of town.
As we headed off the main road following some signs for Pubol we, again, ended up on some winding roads heading thru the Spanish countryside. Arriving in Pubol we found a large and fairly empty car park signposted for the castle, so abandoned the car and continued into town on foot. Finding the longest route up the hill to the castle we arrived at the entrance only to find we'd left our money in the car. After a quick look round the town we found a much more direct route back to the entrance. At the main gate into the compact courtyard we were gestured into a small room to the side. This contained some useful info on the origins of the castle as it was originally built in medieval times, a history the locals are very proud of. The castle features in paperwork as early as the 11th century and was the home for the baron who ruled the area in the 15th and 16th centuries. Such was the reputation
of this baron it is said that the residents of the village were above the local authorities. It was highlighted that the only reported crime during his reign was a theft, the perpetrators were caught and their heads removed. These were displayed at the entrance of the village as a warning to others.
The village as we found it was a friendly place with a relaxed atmosphere. The tours of the castle lead you up to the first floor to the main dwelling area. The interior was inspiring, as you would imagine from a set of rooms decorated by such an iconic artist. As the route thru the house winds it's way through all of the rooms you begin to get a feel for how this couple were. The collection of outfits in the loft includes some big modern day designers. There is also a series of original works from Dali scattered throughout the castle. Leading from the castle into the grounds is a shady balcony area. It gives very impressive views over the surrounding area as well as an impressive perspective of the garden. You can see where the tall slender aspects of Dali's work originate
with the imposing and seemingly endless height of the trees in the garden. As we wandered round the garden sculptures appeared thru the trees and behind walls. It was like some surreal adventure into a world created by Dali.
We drifted back to the car conscious of the three hour journey we still had to cover before arriving in Sitges. We headed back inland to re-join the main road down the coast to Barcelona. As we journeyed along the coast we kept falling over small villages perched in each of the recesses of the cliff faces. After finding the non-toll road we headed south from Barcelona on the final part of our journey for the day to meet with friends and cold beer in a beachside bar. This being Spain, the ‘scenic’ route round the coast was a single carriage highway, filled with locals and scooters flying past anything in front of them on the numerous switchbacks. Meeting up with our friends in the bar overlooking the beach provided a most refreshing end to this leg of our nomadic style journey with a very welcome bed and bathroom. After a making the most of the luxury of
the apartment we headed out into the cooling night with our friends to celebrate our engagement and reflect on the journey so far.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.092s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 13; qc: 59; dbt: 0.0555s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb