Getting There is Half the Fun

On the way to Cadaques

On Sunday morning we got up earlier than usual and were on our way to Cadaques by a little before 8:00 a.m.  There was little to no traffic which was very nice for John who was doing all the driving.  And, it's a good thing because the scenic routes are 2 lane narrow and winding along with up and down.  It is less than 200 km to Cadaques but it seems much farther because of the roads and slow going for those not used to these highways.  However, we were in no hurry and enjoyed the beautiful changing scenery along the way.  Our route is shown below:


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It was almost 1:00 p.m. when we finally arrived in Cadaques.  We couldn't find the hotel right away and so we just parked where we could and decided to ask at another hotel which was right across the street from where we parked.  Turns out we were only two short blocks or so from the Hotel Ubaldo which was on a little narrow street.  We walked over and checked in.  It was nice to be able to converse with them in Spanish.

View From Our Room

The official language is Catalan but everyone seemed  to be able to speak Spanish too.  We were shown our room which was fine with a nice view and then discussed parking with the desk clerk (it was included in the hotel rate) because we didn't think we could leave the car on the street all night.  She asked us how big our car was - medium - and said that we could park in an underground garage nearby and she gave us a remote to open the door into the garage which turned out to be across the street from where we had parked the car on the street.  Actually, once you get acclimated, you find that Cadaques is fairly small with one main street of a couple of blocks ending at the bay. 

After settling in, we walked to the waterfront and checked out the various restaurants,, selecting one somewhat at random.  We ordered the menu of the day which was Galician style pulpo (octopus) as a starter, Paella de la casa and flan for dessert along with a cold glass of Catalan beer.  The pulpo was perfectly fresh and tender - sliced over a layer of potatoes with a spicy dressing over all - we enjoyed it very much.  The paella, however, was just o.k.  It was not nearly as good as the paella we had from the market last week.  And, the flan was a disappointment - it was the tasteless "Jello" kind - not like good Mexican flan.  However, the ambiance and view of the bay were very nice. 

Galician Pulpo

Paella 

After a leisurely lunch we walked around to the other side of the bay/harbor along with the rest of the tourists.  Yes, Cadaques is a tourist destination for sure with not a lot to do but overall is pleasant.  We pretty much spent what was left of the day doing nothing.  Salvador Dali lived here for a while but when I looked it up I found that his former home would have been worth a visit but was closed on Mondays.  Oh well.  We had a  little snack for supper (from the bakery - we are so bad!) and had a good night's sleep.  

Monday morning we walked down to the waterfront again to find breakfast - they seem to just have coffee and sweets for breakfast in Cadaques - no real breakfast menus that we could find so we had cappuccino and churros at the bakery cafe. It was delicious and quite enough.   

The hotel lady told us that there would be a market in the morning and it turned out to be right down the street from the hotel.  Since I love to go to markets - not necessarily to buy - just to take in the sights, sounds and smells, we agreed to take a look.  The Monday market consisted of mostly clothing items, jewelry, some shoes, baskets and then down at the end - the sausages, fruits and vegetables.  We walked the entire length and boughr a purse and a small African basket and of course, took pictures.  One of the stalls was filled with flamenco clothing - costumes for little girls - even little flamenco shoes as well as costumes and shawls for adults.  I have always wanted to take Flamenco lessons - even started once until the teacher disappeared from San Miguel after the second class.  I did read something about another teacher in town so I may just start up again - I even have the shoes. You're never too old to dance.

Flamenco booth in the market

 Since there was really nothing else to do, we packed up and hit the road. (Well, there were some tourist water activities - boats to rent - sightseeing cruises - but not really of interest to us on this trip). We took a different and easier route to Perpignan so that John didn't have to deal with the extremely narrow and winding roads on the coast going home.  From there we headed onto the same road back to Magrie.  Fortunately, there was not much traffic. The day started out cloudy and foggy but turned beautiful by the time we reached the Perpignan area.    We didn't make any other side trips because we didn't want to take a chance of being out on the highways after dark.  We stopped for lunch in a little village along the way and I had a hamburger and fries while John had an omelette and fries - it was pretty much a sandwich and pizza place so there wasn't much choice.  However, the french fries were outstanding - probably fried in lard!  And, the hamburger was also very good.  It was a nice little break.  It was very close to a river gorge that was recommended but Christine but you have to walk on a narrow trail on a cliff and we just weren't up to that on this trip.  Although, with all this talk of food, we should really be doing more hiking.  Maybe I'll start today. ;-)     

                           Links to pictures:      PICTURES Part 1                  PICTURES Part 2

And by the way, when you click on the pictures link you will see a button on the right above the collection of pictures in the album that says SLIDESHOW - that is the best way to view the pictures.