Until the 1960's Costa Brava, translating to "Wild Coast", was an area associated with poverty and hardship. In the 1960's, however, it became transformed to a popular tourist destination. Today, it is a well known and visited area of Spain.
We began the trip early on Friday morning. The road we took had much historical significance because it was the same road that in 1936 was taken over by over 470,000 people crossing the border to escape the horrors of the Spanish Civil War.
It was fitting that our first stop, La Jonquera, was a stop that many of these refuges passed through in their transit to France. Here, in La Jonquere we visited the Museu de i'Exili. The museum is one of two museums in Spain’s entirety to show homage to the memory of the Republican exiles. It was created in 2008 by the Catalan governments in attempts to show homage to the memory of the Republican exiles.
Before coming to Spain, I hadn’t heard much of Spanish history, however after being here, I now understand why. In particular, the story of these Republican exiles, who fled Spain to escape the horrors of the war, was silenced during the 40 years of Franco’s dictatorship. Franco considered these people to have been fugitives, and even after Franco’s death and the transition to a constitutional monarchy in Spain, the silence continued. After silence for so many years, it was hard to break, and even today it is quite a hushed subject.
The museum aims to illustrate the tragic months when the Spanish Civil War ended and the Second World War was about to begin. It was a nice museum, but we were all left a little confused, because all the information and descriptions were in Catalan. This made it basically impossible to understand anything. It was kind of frustrating because I was really interested in the subject, but couldn’t make sense of anything.
After leaving the Exile Museum (both intrigued and confused) we were supposed to head to Collioure, a supposedly beautiful, seaside town in southern France. However, due to the crazy snowstorms we got last week (which, Costa Brava, being more northern than Barca, got hit with even more snow) Collioure was completely closed down. The snow everywhere on the trip was pretty crazy. Huge piles of snow still lined the streets, even though the weather had already turned nice again.
So, our leaders made a quick change of plans and we went to Perpignan, the capital of northern Catalunya. (in France) It was kind of a silly stop because everything was in French and Catalan, so no one understood anything. Also, the massive amounts of snow, and inadequate drainage systems left rivers running through the streets. So, we trudged around this alright (nothing great) town, and got wet and cold.
One thing we did explore was the Palace of the Kings of Majorca. It was pretty, and from the top of one of the towers we had a nice view of the city.
After kind of a bust of a day we headed to our hotel in Girona. It was a great hotel (awesome beds, great sheets, amazing showers). Overall very luxurious. Had a nice dinner and then went to bed.
The next day we all were hoping for a better day. Thankfully, we got our wish. Day 2 was awesome! First we went to Figueres, Spain, the birthplace of the artist Salvador Dali. Here, we visited the Dali Theater Museum. It was such an interesting, educational, and fun experience. Everything about the building, the art, and the architecture was so bizarre. It all had symbolism though, and thankfully we had a great guide for this museum who was able to help us understand many of the nuisances we never would have understood.
Dali must have been quite the character. Very talented, but seemingly very strange. He lived a very extravagant and eccentric lifestyle. He claimed his life was one big “Carnaval,” and in honor of this created a piece of work featuring a car and a naval ship. (car-naval). He also had an odd fascination with his wife, Gala. She is present (in one form or another) in every room of the museum. Dali lived in the museum until his death, and is now buried there (you can see his tomb). It was a really strange museum, but very, very interesting.
After leaving Figueres, we left for Cadaques. Boy, was this a trip. Although only about 25 miles, the trip took close to an hour. Cadaques is considered a treasured town of Costa Brava because not many tourists venture there due to the difficult access. It was a stunning drive though, as we had to go over the mountains to get there. As our teacher explained, Cadaques (like most of Costa Brava) is where the Pyrenees “melt” into the ocean. This creates the beautiful rocky coastline that is so loved.
After this somewhat scary drive, we arrived in Cadaques. Situated on the Cap de Creus peninsula, Cadaques is considered one of the most symbolic places on Costa Brava. It also served as a source of inspiration for many famous painters and artists, in particular Salvador Dali, where his family had a summer house.
The town was small, but very quaint. It reminded me of how I expect Greece to look like. Tiny streets, white house, blues doors, majestic water. It was such a treat to get to explore this tiny town.
After exploring the town and eating a small lunch at a seaside restaurant, we headed to Portlligat. Only about a 20 minute walk from Cadaques, Portlligat is a small village located in a small bay. Salvador Dali lived in the village and his house still stands (it is now the Casa-Museo Salvador Dali). The museum only allows 8 guests to enter at a time, so we couldn’t go in. It was still fun to explore this teeny,tiny port.
It was also very interesting to see how crossing a hill could change the landscape and water so much. While Cadaques was very reminiscent of Greece, Portlligat reminded me of Ireland or Scotland with its deep blue water and rocky coast line. After some exploration, we boarded the bus back to Girona.
After getting back in Girona, I explored around with a few friends. (including getting some hot chocolate. So good!) Later went back to the hotel for dinner. After dinner I went out with some friends and we got pink cava. Pink (or rose) cava is more rare than regular cava, but boy was it a treat. Even sweeter than the normal cava. Very tasty.
Woke up early the next morning for a “3 hour tour” of Girona. As we learned, Girona has rich history, and historical significance due to it’s privileged position midway between the sea and the mountains. Today, Girona is still a blossoming city. It has the highest quality of life of any city in Spain, and Lance Armstrong once lived there. As part of the tour we saw the Arab Baths, The Jewish Museum (one of the largest and best preserved Jewish quarters in Europe), The Cathedral (featuring the second oldest tapestry in the world, and a beautiful church that took some 400 years to complete), and The City Walls(which are very well preserved, and which you can still walk on).
Our final stop of the trip was to Besalu, a small medieval town. It was such a peaceful stop. The weather (like the whole trip) was beautiful. It was also Sunday, so not that many people were there. Not only was it beautiful to enter this village dating back to the Middle Ages, but also it was fun because there were neat souvenir shops and restaurants. We only had about an hour there, but we all wished we had had more time. It was a nice way to end a good trip.
Arrived back in Barcelona around 7:00 Sunday night. Overall it was a really nice trip. I enjoy going to places in Spain because I think as cool as it is to gallivant around Europe, it is important to remember that Spain has much to offer as well. Trips like this open my eyes to the gems of Spain that are often overlooked when exploring Europe.
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