A surreal experience

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Apologies for the clichéd title of this blog but there is really no other way to describe two days spent in the company of Salvador Dali and his muse Gala - not to mention wandering through the pretty fishing village of Cadaques, the magically-preserved medieval town of Besalau and finishing at the luxurious Parador de Vic-Sau, overlooking the magnificent volcanic mountains and delicious lake of the Parc National de Garrotxa in Northern Spain.

We began our Dali pilgrimage yesterday morning at the Museu-Testro Dali in Figueres. It really is astonishing, albeit exceedingly crowded. Of course we have seen a lot of Dali, including the huge exhibition in Melbourne a few years ago, but Dali's Museum is a work in itself and has lots of huge pieces and installations that cannot travel. The building - a former theatre - is integral to the art, decorated with plaster croissant and surreal figures. There is one huge work which occupies the entire former screen and a magnificent fresco on a ceiling which is a kind of worm's eye view of Dali and Gala. The courtyard includes rows of gold figures, a rainy taxi (it rains inside) and a huge fertility goddess sculpture of Gala. I can't possibly name all the highlights but some other memorable works for me included a hologram of three men playing cards which morphed into a version of Las Meninas with Dali replacing Velasquez; the Mae West portrait that is an entire room (Classic Dali sofa as her lips); peephole Garden of Eden (possibly my favourite)' Gala nude that morphs Into a portrait of Abraham Lincoln (okay maybe that was my favourite). Danny's favourites included some beautiful but more conventional Gala portraits and some of the wacky pen and ink drawings.

But the most surreal moment came after we were surprised to discover an entire exhibition on the top floor called Aliyah and portraying the Jewish experience of the 20th century. We had just left it and were puzzling about what interest Dali had in the subject as we sat in another room when we heard a guide say to his group בוי למלה ('Come upstairs' in Hebrew!) We followed the Israeli group and had the genuinely surreal experience of hearing Dali's Aliyah collection (a commission) explained in Hebrew in Spain!

We dragged ourselves away from Figueres eventually - my mind not ready to leave but my feet having had it and Danny overwhelmed by the crowds. We headed to the Costa Brava to Cadaques where we stayed at a Dali-themed hotel. Unfortunately we discovered in seaside Cadaques that the rain in Spain does not stay mainly on the plain - it poured yesterday and we had a rather wet coastal walk. But this morning it was fine and we enjoyed a seaside walk looking at the pretty white washed houses and boats flying Catalonian flags before our next Dali treat: Casa Dali in nearby Portligat. The astonishing house where Salvador and Gala lived has beautiful light and views as well as fabulously quirky architecture and decoration including a phallic swimming pool, a mirror positioned so Dali could see the sunrise while lying in bed and an oval room with remarkable acoustics. I loved the rooftop sculpture of Dali and Gala and Danny was particularly taken with 'Christ of the rubbish'. Yet another surreal experience was a film we watched and kind of understood at the Casa - it was in French with Spanish subtitles!

It was hard to leave Dali country but time to continue our road trip. the next stop was gorgeous in a completely different way. The pretty medieval town of Besalau is remarkably well-preserved and we walked across the bridge through the old town gate (complete with portcullis) and around the narrow alleys before heading west to our unusually (for us) luxurious accommodation at the Parador where I am now sitting by the pool catching the last of the sun and feeling very relaxed and enriched.

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