Out and About on the Costa Brava

Day Trip to Montserrat Monestary

2011-08-22T10:11:00.000-07:00

According to legend, the Benedictine Monastery of Montserrat came into being in the year 880 when a small group of shepherd children saw a bright light descending from the sky in the Montserrat mountains. At that moment the children heard angels singing and the music filled their hearts with a radiant joy. These visions apparently occurred in a cave on the mountain and when this cave was explored by the religious elders of the community they found an image of the Virgin Mary. From that moment on the cave became a holy sanctuary for religious pilgrims.

Whether you hold religious views or not, the mountains of Montserrat and the monastery are well worth a full days visit. We don't recommend visiting Montserrat in the high summer or at the weekends when it becomes extremely busy. The mountain of Montserrat became a National Park in 1987 and the black Virgin of Montserrat was proclaimed patron saint of Catalonia in 1881. Today, the Monastery houses some 80 benedictine monks who dedicate their lives to prayer, work and social duties with the visitors.

The mountain itself reaches a height of over 4000 feet. There are some fantastic walks above the Monastery which take from an hour or so to over 5 hours. It's not recommended to tackle these walks in mid summer and take plenty of water as well as comfortable hiking shoes. Once you get to the top of Montserrat, surprisingly there are some very nice shaded walks and although the majority are like the image to the left, some are very close to the edge and are not for the faint-hearted or for those that suffer from vertigo.

To help you get around the mountain, there are some cog railways and tickets can be purchased on the mountain. They do not however allow dogs. We suggest that you take a picnic with you as the food served in the restaurants is not brilliant. Another highlight a visit to the monastery is to listen to the famous Basilica choir boy performances of Gregorian chants and other genres of religious choral music. They can be heard free of charge in the Basilica at 13:00 daily with the exception of Christmas holidays, July and some other festive periods during the year. For more information about Montserrat, please see their interactive website http://www.montserratvisita.com

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Cadaques - Part of the Salvador Dali trail.

2011-07-07T02:30:00.000-07:00

For some, Salvadore Dali is the essence of the Costa Brava and no trip here would be complete without either a trip to the Museum in Figueres or Cadaques.

Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol (May 11, 1904 – January 23, 1989), commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres.

Dali spent his early summer holidays in Cadaques and later discovered modern painting in cadaques whilst on a summer painting holiday, staying with the family of Ramon Pichot, a local artist.

In 1922, Dali moved to Madrid to study at the School of Fine Arts, but was expelled in 1926 just before his exams after announcing that no one on the faculty was competent to examine him.

In August 1929, Dalí met his muse, inspiration, and future wife Gala born Elena Ivanovna Diakonova, a Russian immigrant 10 years his senior.

Salvador Dalí's politics played a significant role in his emergence as an artist. In his youth, he embraced both anarchism and communism although in later years he declared himself an anarchist and monarchist. During the Spanish Civil War he refused to support either side and fled the fighting and during the second world war he fled to America.

On his return to Catalunya, he aligned himself with the Authoritarian regime led by general Franco and even sent telegrams to Franco praising him for signing death warrants for prisoners. He met Franco on many occasions and painted a portrait of Franco's grand-daughter.

It is interesting to note that the Catalans do not think too highly of Salvador Dali as Catalunya is mainly republican and they consider Dali to have joined the "wrong side".

George Orwell, who fought for the republicans during the Spanish Civil War, criticized Dali for, "Scuttling off like a rat as soon as France is in danger" and said of him, "One ought to be able to hold in one's head simultaneously the two facts that Dali is a good draughtsman and a disgusting human being".

Salvador Dalí has been cited as major inspiration from many modern artists, such as Damien Hirst, Noel Fielding, Jeff Koons and most other modern surrealists. Salvador Dali's manic expression and famous moustache have made him something of a Cult icon for the bizarre & surreal.

We recommend visiting San Pere de Rodes as well as Cadaques and stopping off in St Marti de Empuries for dinner on the way back to the Villa.

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Castell de Sant Ferran.

2011-07-06T22:01:00.000-07:00

Just a few kilometers from La Jonquera and the French border and about an hour to the north of the Villa lies Castell de Sant Ferran (Castillo de Sant Fernando in Castillano).

Work started on December 13, 1753 and it was named Sant Ferran in honor of King Ferdinand VI of Spain. It is the largest monument of Catalonia.

Located just to the north of Figueres, we suggest that you combine this day trip with other day trips to the north such as the Salvador Dali museum, Banyoles lake, Besalú and Garroxta Volcanic national park or the northern coastal villages such as Cadaques, L'Escala, Roses or St Marti de Empuries.

There is a good restaurant within the fortress walls and we recommend arriving for 10.00 or so and having breakfast in Sant Ferran.

The castle occupies an area of 32ha within a perimeter of 3120m, and cisterns located under the courtyard are able to hold up to 40 million liters of water. At its height, the castle could support 6,000 troops.

The frequent incursions by French troops in the second half of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th, revealed only too clearly the need, in this frontier territory, to have access to a military installation that could prevent the constant invasions from the neighbouring country.

La Plaza was designed by the Commandant-in-Chief of the Corps of Engineers, Don Juan Martín Zermeño, to provide accommodation for five infantry batallions and five cavalry squadrons, making a total of 6,000 men and 500 horses.

It is the biggest fortress in Spain and the largest Napoleonic fortress in Europe built in the 18th century.

During the Napoleonic war, the Fortress was briefly occupied by French troops in 1808 after a 7 day siege of the small Spanish garrison based there.

In 1811, the Spanish retook control of the Castle and it remains in Spanish hands from then on.

In 1906, the northern part of the fortress is turned into a prison and remains in use until 1933.

In 1939, during the Spanish Civil War, the retreating Republican army destroyed all the arms, munitions and explosives stored in the

castle causing irreparable damage.

The Castle is a relatively well kept secret in Catalunya considering it's sheer size and historical importance. There are very few signs to get to it, and what there are, are well hidden behind trees etc. You can just arrive and walk around the grounds by yourself, but to get the full tour including a boat trip in the water systerns underneath the fortress, you have to book in advance.

This is well worth a visit and even just a stroll around the grounds will take a good 2 hours. They welcome dogs kept on a lead.

For more information please see their website http://www.castillosanfernando.org/index2.htm

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Boat Trip to Tossa de Mar

2011-07-05T04:21:00.000-07:00

Tossa de Mar is a small village about 20 minutes south of the Villa. The earliest documented human presence was at a Roman Villa believed to be occupied in the IV century, but today it is more famous for it's well preserved castle dating to the XII century, built to ward off pirates.

In recent years it was a bustling fishing village but that has now been taken over by tourism and although the old town is charming, it has become a little too commercialised.

Parking in Tossa during the summer can be a bit of a nightmare, so another option is to park in Platja d'Aro and take the glass bottom boat to Tossa.

Towards the northern end of Platja d'Aro, there is a well run beach bar called Friends. We suggest getting there for 0900 and having breakfast. It has the added bonus of being almost right in front of the departure point for the boat.

The boat leaves at 10.00 and takes an hour and a half to get to Tossa, stopping at St Feliu de Guixols on the way.

Once you enter the Castle, climb to the top of the hill and head for the "El Far" lighthouse restaurant and bar. This is a good place to take in the views and have a cool beer.

There are plenty of good restaurants to choose from but we suggest booking a table when you first get there as it gets very busy in the summer.

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Day Trip to St Miquel de Fai

2011-07-04T13:00:00.000-07:00

Situated about 90 minutes south of the Villa, Sant Miquel del Fai is one of the oldest monasteries in Spain and is located in the Tenes Valley about 40 km north of Barcelona. The first mention about the cave-church of San Miguel was in the year 997, when Count Ramon Borrell gave it to Earl Gombau Besora to build a monastery there, but there is a lot of evidence that the area was populated by Iberian settlements dating back to the Bronze age. St Miquel is one of the hidden gems of the Costa Brava. A bountiful water supply provided by the river Tenes provides a spectacular waterfall backdrop to the Monastery situated on a rock ledge at an height of 1500ft (450 mts) over the Tenes Valley.

We recommend taking a picnic and spending the whole day at St Miquel. Entry costs €8 for an adult, €6 for a pensioner and €4 for a child (2011 prices) . They have a picnic area and small bar which is open at the weekends, but we recommend going during the week as you will probably have the whole place to yourselves.

For more information about St Miquel de Fai, please see their website http://www.santmiqueldelfai.net/

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