Leaving Barcelona and the hordes of touristas on Las Ramblas behind, Dana and I escaped to the Costa Brava, a strip of gorgeous coastline that stretches from Blanes to France. We drove north through small towns like Tossa del Mar, spent the night in Sant Feliu de Guixols (known affectionately by us Americanos as "San Fee-loo dee Guac-shoals") and then finally made it to our chosen destination, Cadaques, near the French border. Cadaques is a beautiful white-washed town right on the ocean with plenty of charm. Spaniards have been vacationing here for ages.


Before we got to Cadaques however, we stopped off in Figures, an inland city with only one main attraction -- the Teatro-Museo Dali, the crowing achievement of famed Spanish surrealist Salavador Dali. In the early 1960’s, Dali came back to his hometown to construct his museum inside the ruins of the old Municipal Theatre. Once finished, he lived out his last years there and was eventually buried on the grounds. The outside of the place said it all -- classic Dali.


Unlike Gaudi's mosaics, I've always been enchanted by Dali's work. We spent the afternoon walking through the museum looking at art. While it appears quite boring, the place was incredibly interesting. The museum itself was a work of art, not just the paintings on the walls. As the guidebook said "the museum deserves as much time as you could give it."


Dali was clearly a genius who loved upsetting the status quo. Many of his paintings inside the Teatre were ordinary things, with something amiss or all sorts of strange ants and nails all over them. Others were just amazing, such as this "portrait" of Picasso, done in the style of Picasso.


Another one of my favorites was this one. I forget the exact title, but it was something like "Part of a Series Where From 10 Meters A Tiger Is Seen, But From 2 Meters, Three Small China Men Appear". Or something like that.


After we were saturated with Dali art, we headed to Cadaques where he used to spend his summers as a small boy. The gleaming white buildings, blue ocean and bizarre and rough volcanic beaches no doubt inspired some of the landscapes in his works. While Cadaques was full of touristas (mostly Spanish and French), there were plenty of secluded swimming spots on both sides of town. We headed north from the main beach and made our way down dusty dirt roads to spots far away from town. We swam in the cool ocean and generally had a wonderful time.


This photo says it all. And yes, that is Dana. In short, Cadaques is bliss. We would have stayed there for a week, but we had to catch a flight to Prague. So we headed back to Barcelona...