My name is Marion Vermazen. I am a traveler, hiker, reader, Sun alumnus, computer geek, YouTuber, Spanish and French language student, knitter, weaver and genealogist.
Our first stop this morning was at the Dali Museum in Figueroa. Dali created the museum as a monument for his work.
From Figueres we drove to our Parador outside of Vic. We overlook Sau reservoir and tree covered mountains.
For dinner we ate in the Parador. Duke and I had octopus.
With chocolate mousse for desert.
We are staying in a hotel near Roses, Catalonia that was originally an old farmhouse built in 1582.
Today we drove about thirty miles east to visit the house where Salvador Dali lived for more than forty years. The house is as he left it after his wife died. It is small, quirky and in a beautiful setting on the edge of the Mediterranean.
After enjoying the house and garden we drove into the nearby town of Cadaqués for lunch. The day started overcast but turned sunny. We sat in an outdoor restaurant by the beach and enjoyed our lunch and the scenery while we people watched the Saturday visitors.
Back at our hotel we napped then played bridge until it was time for dinner.
For dinner we went to another great restaurant in Roses recommended by the hotel owner. At Falconera We shared a fig salad, I had a fish stew and Duke had cuttlefish. The prawns and anchovies were local.
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Before we left Tortosa this morning we walked down to the old town to see the market and to find the bomb shelter that is a museum of the civil war. The bomb shelter was closed but we still had fun wandering around.
Around noon we headed to Barcelona Airport, turned in our rental car, and rented a bigger car. About four pm Ray and Linda arrived. We have been friends forever and are really looking forward to two weeks exploring Spain with them together.
From the airport we headed north almost to the French border where we are staying in a hotel that looks like an old farm house. We arrived here after dark and headed into town to a restaurant called Rom Taverna. We could hear waves and by looking at the map we could tell we were on the water but we couldn’t see anything. The meal was great!
Along our route today we saw a sign for Poblat Iberica which we think means Iberian town. The Iberians were the people living here before the Roman conquest. The site didn’t have any signs and we were the only ones there but it was still fun to look at the ruins.
We continued on and drove into Catalonia to the coast on the Ebro River to the town of Tortosa. This town has been a strategic location with people living here for centuries. We are staying in a Parador on the sight of the old castle and fortification that dates from at least Roman times.
It’s been gray and threatening rain all day. We ignored the threat and walked down into the town to explore. We had a coffee. I think that is becoming our habit mid afternoon.
And then we toured the very well done city museum. They even had an English audio guide
This is a tax collecting box. It has holes on top for the coins. It also has three locks on the front so that it could only be open if the three required officials were present.
This is the actual letter the town received in 1492 from the King ordering the town officials to expel the Jews.
The Ebro River Valley is the sight of one of the biggest battles In the Spanish Civil War. The town was bombed and 100,00 Republicans died in the battle. Below is the battle monument and a couple of the bombing before and after pictures from the museum.
We ate dinner at the Parador. We shared black rice squid paella. The rice is black from the squid ink.
Today we drove about two hours northeast to Alcañiz. As we neared our destination we came around a corner and could see our Parador for tonight in the distance. It’s the castle on the hill!
After checking in we went down to the old town center. The church is enormous and has cranes (birds not lifting devices) nesting on the roof.
Under the main square there are tunnels and rooms that they used to use for food and ice storage. After enjoying a coffee in a nearby cafe we explored the narrow passageways. Most of them required you to stoop to walk
our parador room is in a tower overlooking the countryside. By the time the sun went down the fog had come in and we could barely see the church below us.
For dinner Duke had a veal steak. Our deserts were really special. Mango and cream for me and brownie and raspberry sorbet for Duke.
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