The road to Figeures - leaving Barcelona was not an easy thing to do as it has been so nice to just have a few days to relax but with only two days left, we want to get in as much as we can! So, we headed out very early this morning to pick up a rental car. We got very lucky as they were having a special if you got the GPS service (which we had full intentions of doing anyway) you were upgraded to a larger car. Nice! We got a VW Tiguan which is very comfortable and roomy, but it has so many bells and whistles on it it would take us a week just to read the owners manual (particularly because it is only in Spanish).... oh well, I guess Gas and Brake are the only things you REALLY need to know :)
Jim mapped out a course that took us up the coast of Spain along the Mediterianian Sea. They call this road the Costa Brava (rugged coast.) Aptly named! Words truly cannot do justice to the beauty we experienced. The road is a winding passage right along the cliffside, but very well maintained. There were great parking areas frequently spaced that allowed for photo opportunities that were not to be missed. We took advantage of them all. The ride actually reminded me of a combination of drives past Dead Man's Curve down toward Deerfield and also the drive along the rocky coast line of Maine. Here are a few pictures but believe me, as nice as they came out, pictures just cannot possibly give you the true sense of its majesty. There is even a short video which helps a little but still... not the same as being there!
We could have spent the whole day on this route but one of the items on Jims list was the Dali Museum in Figueres. So we cut back inland and took the highway up into the city. Just befor we left the coast, we found a beautiful restaurnant to have lunch at. It was a tiny bit chilly but still very sunny out so we opted to dine in the enclosed, outdoor dining room. It was really a nice place with the white linen table clothes and wine glasses etc... however, that atmosphere was slightly interrupted when a pigeon decided to walk in through the open door, but attempt to fly out.... through the closed windows! Poor thing, he tried flying each way and it always ended up with a crash into the glass. Finally the waitress was able to open the doors on hte far side and he flew out. Let me tell you...that bird will have one MASSIVE headache tomorrow! Lunch for us however was much more successful than it was for the pidgeon!
Jim had some Button Mushroom Soup and then Grilled Sausage with White Beans. I had the best gaspatcho I have ever tasted and then Baked Stuffed Pasta in Beschemel Sauce. Thumbs up on both dishes.
The town of Figueres is completely influenced by Salvadore Dali. Dali shared his time between Spain, France and the USA. He lived for a long time in France during the Spanish Revolution due to Franco's purging of intellectuals. You may have seen one or two of his works and think you like or dislike his style. But the fact is he worked in many genres of painting from impressionism to realism, cubism, and surrealism. Due to his strong tendency toward political satyrism, the Surrealists actually dismissed him becasue they did not want the association. Some of his early works, like Grandmother sitting at Window or Portrait of my Father, are a a far cry from his later pieces such as my new favorite Two Nightstands Attacking a Cello. I don't think anyone really knows Dali, even Dali! The museum is housed in what used to be Dali's home. 
And, judging from the decor as well as some of his art... it is safe to say the man had some issues. His strict upbringing and sexual dysfuntions influenced his work but they say a little anxt makes a great artist so who am I to judge, eh?
After the museum we made our way to the Hotel Duran. Finding the hotel was no problem, parking the car... that's another story. The garage is a block away, underground and about the size of my kitchen! Now try to park 48 cars in it. You get the idea. Jim was up to the task as usual and once we were set, we went up to our room. The hotel itself was rather plain but comfortable. The main attraction is the restaurant. Once operated by legendary chef Loius Duran it was of course, a favorite hang-out for Dali and his companion Gala. Sorry there are no photos of the food here.... just not the sort of place you take our your cell phone and snap pictures. But I'll do my best to discribe it for you. I'll start with my meal: I had the special Christmas Soup (no idea why it is called that as none of the ingredients were particularly seasonal) but it was very good. The waiter set the bowl down and it had pasta shells, slices of meatballs and some thin sliced vegetables in it. Then he poured the hot broth over it to enhance the presentation value. My main course was Roasted Suckling Pig with Lyonaissed Potatoes and a Pommogranite Salad. Awesome, awesome, awesome. But, as much as I enjoyed it, that was nothing in comparision to how much Jim enjoyed his meal. He opted for The Degustation Menu which is a set menu of the chef's choosing. His selections for tonight were Appetizer - Wild Mushroom Fritters, golden little bites deep fried and served on a bed of fried thin pasta`. It came with a Pomegranite Cava (like a spritzer) which I tried but could only drink about half of it. I am not good with alcohol :). Salad Course was a Carpacchio of Mushrooms with Mezclum and prawns drizzled with Truffle Oil. Jim loves mushrooms so this was a big hit! The Cream (soup course) was a Cream Soup of Chestnuts with Foie-Gras and Sweet Potatoe and Iberian Ham Chips served on the side. I snuck some of that...it was amazing! The Fish Course was Poached Sole with Cream of Pumpkin and Quince Coulis. Jim said it was delicious. The Meat Course was Roast Duck with Candied Figs and a Porto Juice Sauce. I have to say, that by the look of sheer ecstacy on Jims face, that must have been fantastic.
For dessert I had the Bananas Flambee which they prepared tableside and Jim had Pound Cake with fruits Carmelized and Vanilla Ice Cream, all topped with Meringue which they also flambeed as they served it. Oh My.... I am starting to get hungry again just writing this! Yes, the meal costs more than the hotel room for the night but it was worth every penny (or euro as the case may be). Then up to the room to shower and get ready for our last day of vacation! Another early wake-up time so Good Night for now.
Well, it is here, our last day of vacation. We have seen so many amazing sights, learned so much about life in different places, stood on ground once walked by those whose actions directed the path this world would take. Not bad for a couple of regular folks from little Deltona, Florida. But today we are doing something a bit different. We are traveling into Toulouce, France to meet up with someone we have "known" for a few years, but never actually met. Ah, the power of the internet. Short background: Three years ago I met someone from Mexico while playing Mafia Wars on Facebook. Despite language, age, nationality and just about every other "difference" you can imagine, we became friends. He has spent time at our home, I have spent time in his and Jim and I will be going there again in May. Fast forward 3 years and here we are in France meeting up with his sister and her family! In fact, we will be meeting his nephew befor he has even had the chance to do so. Crazy how small this world really is if you just get out there and experience it!
We drove from Figueres through the beautiful French countryside, nibbling on a fresh supply of croissants Jim purchased this morning from the bakery right outside the hotel. The Pyrrinnies Mountains made for a fantastic backdrop to the endless fields neatly planted with native crops. I suspect many olive and citrus trees, lavender and winter vegetables. Another common site are Windmill Farms. Despite threir enormous height, the structures are so graceful and thin that they seem to blend into the surroundings. Anyway, hard to discribe, but they were pretty cool. Jim has got the feel for this rental car by now so we move along at a pretty good clip. The only hold-ups seem to be that the toll booths have decided that they do not like us and we experience some kind of technical issue or another at almost every one. The attendents were quick to try to resolve the gate or ticket problems, but the language differences make it almost comical. After traveling through countries that speak Spanish, French, Italian, Catalan and German, we have a hard time remembering which we are hearing! One thing for sure... we have decided to work harder on learning these languages before we come back. Rossetta Stone... here we come!
Anyway, we had arranged to meet up with Tey, her husband Philip and their baby David 
at a Park and Ride Station outside Toulouse in a town called Balma Gramont. Now there are hundreds of P&R's and many towns that names are different by only a letter or two, so the fact that Jim got us right to the spot we needed to be was awesome. He continues to amaze me even after 10 years. Once everyone got there and formally "met" it was as if we had known them for years. We all took the Metro into Toulouse as parking in those big towns is very difficult. Tey was an excellant guide, pointing out catherdrals, basilicas and other landmark buildings. She was also able to give us some history behind them and her husband, a French native had a lot of interesting things to share as well. The main square 
you enter from the subway was beautiful. They explained to us that Toulouse is also know as "The Pink City" because the bricks that have been and still are used to construct the city all have a definate pink hue to them. Believe me, it makes for an impressive sight. After checking out some of the town, we found a cafe to have lunch. While we waited for the food to arrive, we gave them some chocolates we had gotten for them in Barcelona and a soft, fuzzy bunny for David. We were thrilled when they handed us a gift that was special from the region of France in which they live. It is a beautiful jar of Nut Oil. We cannot wait to taste it but now we are faced with the quandry that if we open it, it will be gone but if we don't, we will never use it. I think that is part of my Dad's personality coming out in me :) Jim had the special which was a tomatoe, spinach and mozzerella cheese tarte (similar to a fritata as the base is mostly eggs) and a salad. i had Auborgienne (eggplant) lasagna. For dessert Jim got the chocolate mousse and i had pana cota with berries. I think David 
enjoyed the pana cota the most (inside joke - you had to be there to get it). After lunch we strolled a bit more through the narrow cobbelstone streets... interesting point here... all the street names are written in both French and the native language of the village. Wish we had a tape recorder with us to capture all the cool things we were learning, but unfortunately some of the details were lost. All too soon it was time to leave as we had a 5 hour drive back to Barcelona to catch our flight home the next morning. It was tough saying good-bye or "avoi
re" but Jim and I both left feeling gratful we had the opportunity to spend some of our vacation with such a warm and welcoming family. New friends for sure.
The ride back to Barcelona was long but very pleasant. The mountain tops began to disappear beneath the cloud line and the sun started to set. The Mediterrainian Sea was visable from time to time as the road took us near the shore to avoid going over the mountain range. I tried to soak in as much of it as I could, hoping to burn these images into my memory. It is definately in our plans to return for another trip but as nothing in this life is for certain, best not to waste the chance while it is here! The serenity of the counrtyside gave way to the traffic and confusion of Barcelona but we found our hotel without much trouble. As the restaurants do not even open to serve dinner until 8:30 p.m., we had enough time to organize our suitcases so they were "airplane friendly", make a list of hte items we purchased so we could fill out our customs paperwork easily on the plane and Jim did a little work uploading hte previous journal entry. Then we went to the hotel restaurant for our last European meal. Jim had an appetiser of anchovies and olives and I had some seafood soup. The waiter brought me out a gigantic bowl and set it in front of me. My first thought was "on no..I'll never be able to eat all that". But when he put the bowl down, it was empty. I thought maybe I was being pranked! A few minutes later he brought out a steaming pot of soup and began to laddle it into my dish. There were clams and mussels in the shells, scallops, cod fish, calemari rings and a whole head-on prawn! The broth was the richest and most herbacious broth I ever had. I am glad I stopped him when I did though as the amount he had given me was still more than I could handle. I gave it the old college try though :) Jim had ordered a veal sirloin which came with thinly sliced potatoes baked in oil and grilled vegetables. I had suspected that the soup would be filling so I had only ordered some cheese drizzled with olive oil and pine nuts, served with thin slices of dry Iberian Ham and Tomatoe Bread. I really wish I could have stayed there all night and eaten it all. It was so good. Here is another fun ligusitic exercise... try explaining to the waiter that when you looked at your check he had not included Jims meal at all. They must be so used to people complaining about being overcharged, the concept that we were telling him he had not been charged enough was inconceivable. Finally, when it sank in what we were trying to say, he was clearly stunned. He must have thanked us 10 times for pointing that out. Apparently honesty is the exception, not the rule? Anyway. fantastic meal to end our gastronic sojourne through Europe. Now it is off to bed for a 4:30 am wake up call and 21 hour travel day.
Jim and I both sincerely hope you enjoyed following along on our journey. This journal was a labor of love and we included it as part of the total experience. We enjoyed your comments and mostly just the knowledge that in some small way, we could share this blessing and adventure with the people we love, our family and friends. So until next time...... keep your passports up to date and start dreaming... it is a big world out there!