The second leg of this Catalan journey took me to Costa Brava, a coastal region northeast of Spain consisting of mountains, sea, and vineyards. I elected to spend more time in Costa Brava than Barcelona because we’ve had enough of the drudgery of city life living in New York, and more time than in Menorca because I felt Costa Brava would feel more authentic and offer more to discover culturally (I was correct, parts of Menorca felt very similar to downtown Disney.. more on that later).
Begur is a lovely home base from which to explore the rest of Costa Brava. It is a hilltop town similar to those of Lake Como, and is quiet but also boasts a bustling town square. We would wake up to pristine silence and mountain air in our front yard, then walk the 5 mins to the town center and be in the midst of liveliness. For somewhat of a tourist town, the stores have pretty great wares - I procured an amazing handmade bowl, earrings, a necklace, and a raffia clutch a la Cult Gaia. It’s close to other towns you would want to explore in Costa Brava and a ~10min drive to the sea.
Driving the rental car to Begur was surprisingly easy. You forget that other countries don’t have the crumbling infrastructure that we do (pour one out for the BQE!) We arrived at our villa and were greeted by an orange cat, whom I presumed to be the property manager. Our first night consisted of a chilled dinner at Clara Begur, where the beach squid in a smoky sauce and cockles with lime and kefir shone accompanied by a local wine.
The next day we started at Fitzroy Cafe, a hint of Los Angeles in Begur. Their baked goods and coffee were the beginning of each day in Costa Brava for us. Delicious ooey gooey vegan brownie with walnuts.
We enjoyed a beach day at Cala El Golfet, an absolutely surreal secluded beach near Calella de Pallafrugel. The beach is 100+ steps down from the street, so a gem with zero commercial activity, remnant of untouched dreamscapes in Big Sur or northern Maine.
Dinner was at Margarita in Calella de Pallafrugel, which was arguably my favorite dinner of the trip (so difficult to choose, as we had no. food. misses). The town of Calella de Pallafrugel is a bit less upscale than Begur; it felt like the Costa Bravan version of Long Beach - lots of families and a lot more accessible. Margarita overlooks the main town beach, and served extremely flavorful and more creative versions of everything we’d been eating on this trip - bikini with sourdough bread, squid in a spicy sauce, tomato salad with smoked mussels, black spaghetti with uni. We also had my favorite wine on the trip here, something they described as “perfumed”, which we originally shied away from but then one of my friends bravely said “Well isn’t that kind of intriguing…”
This was the BEST day of the whole trip. The above was amazing, but let me give some context: at breakfast this morning, my friend and I started chatting with the barista at Fitzroy, who spent her time between Barcelona and Begur.
“Do you guys like to go out?” she asked with a twinkle in her eye.
My friend and I looked at each other and began a mutual “Uhhh…. ahhaha!”
“We do in New York, but we’re trying to be very tame and calm here,” I said.
“Oh never mind then, never mind,” the barista said, batting the idea away.
The intrigue was there. “Wait, what were you going to say?” I asked.
“Well there’s a place inland called Mas Sorrer… it’s like an outdoor jazz bar with music! It’s fun! I’ll be there tonight… probably starting at 10pm,” she responded.
After dinner we were buzzed on the perfume wine and remembered our conversation with the barista. It was the only Saturday we were there, and we figured we should investigate the aforementioned “outdoor jazz bar”.
“But it’s only 9pm which means that it will be empty if we show up now…”
We were committed to our amorphous vacation goal of going to bed at a reasonable hour and keeping things to a grandmother’s lifestyle.
“We should just go and see it, it might be nice while it’s empty before it gets crazy.”
After dinner we drove down some very dark roads until we came upon a spread of pavilions and a glasshouse lit with heavy threads of string lights. Ahead of us were several other cars, and a woman holding a clipboard talking to each driver.
She directed us to exit the premises and drive just a bit further down the dark road, park, and walk to “La Jarana”.
We did as directed and parked in a large dusty field, exited the car, and walked through some metal dividers and through security. What we entered was not a jazz bar and certainly got lost in translation - Mas Sorrer’s La Jarana was a big bar and dance floor with a DJ in the middle of a dusty, dark field. Coming upon it felt like discovering an oasis in a desert - an oasis where no one knew who we were, everyone else knew each other, and the American music was charmingly 10 years behind: the DJ was mixing Pitbull and Usher and the enraptured Catalan youths were screaming the lyrics back to him. In short, we were interlopers in a universe without a single connection to ours back home, and that was my personal high for the evening. The new friends we made there were baffled at how we possibly found this place - and also informed us that La Jarana was simply the pregame to the next, more serious event which was located a 10 minute walk away.
I will leave the Mas Sorrer story there- it is a perfect travel anecdote of serendipity.
Our new friends at Mas Sorrer bemoaned our leaving “early”, but we told them we had a standing appointment the next morning: Salvador Dali was expecting us at his home in Cadaques.
The next morning, I drove up and down a mountain (urban planners, Costa Brava needs you) to arrive in Cadaques, a fishing village just below the French border. Salvador Dali made Cadaques his home during his adult life, living in a twisted, surreal dream house of his own design. Dali’s house was like an organoid, building upon itself as Dali added strange and personal furnishings and renovations throughout his life. The sleepy gray skies and misty breath of the day, along with Dali’s chimerical home, added to the dreamlike nature of our day in Cadaques.
After Dali sent us out, we went for lunch at Es Baluard, a classy gem tucked away from the mayhem on the second level of a townhouse. We had the best paella of the trip here, and a prawn omelette I’ll never forget. The truffles infused with local herbs we had for dessert were divine.
After lunch we wandered into this cathedral and sat for a while. I adore sitting in cathedrals, though I am not Catholic. I find it very soothing. Who needs a shrink when you can sit in a pew and look at stained glass and Baroque sculpture? Who in New York wants to get coffee and go to St. Patricks with me?
We spent the next day lazily at Sa Tuna beach, ten minutes from Begur. I sunbathed on a rock with Proust for most of the afternoon:
Dinner was at Clara Begur again, and we ordered the beach squid again.
Our final day in Costa Brava began in Pals, a medieval town I expected more from. I do not mean to disparage Pals, but it felt like a feudal movie set, sat in the middle of nowhere with no signs of life other than tourist shops and gelato places. I expected a small yet vibrant town, what we got felt like Epcot: medieval Costa Brava version.
We left Pals quickly for lunch at Carbo back in Begur, where the red meat is the thing. Get the steak with chimichurri.
A wine tasting at Mas Oller winery followed - I highly recommend a visit to this small winery. Their wines were incredible, and their hospitality so warming.
The last supper took place at Toc al Mar in Begur. It boasts a dramatic oceanfront view and VERY fresh fish.
Costa Brava was by far my favorite leg of this trip, specifically Cadaques. A beautiful land of sea, mountains, surrealist art, seafood, and crisp clean wines.
(@Janvi - hello, here is your special note…..)
Outfit Postscript!
I recently went to a Dalí exhibition, so it's very interesting to see these pictures of his very interesting home! Loved seeing your adventures, and your outfits are great.