Mon, May 23 To Sant Llorenς de la Muga

Mon, May 23 Checkout time at Aiguablava wasn’t until noon, so we all took it easy: Bob birded, I painted and Hil read and the noisy gulls gurgled and screeched and carried on. This is supposed to be the most unspoiled coastline in Catalunya and we hate to leave. Looking down from the hotel into the clear water and at the swimmers and yachters below made it a very idyllic scene.

We were heading north again, but Bob routed us through different villages, past wheat fields bordered with red poppies. Every town has an impressive church and/or castle and you could spend years exploring and photographing them all. It get quite frustrating to whiz by such unique places. 

We approached a particularly impressive church and Hil whipped into the car park and we decided to explore a bit. We crossed the road and entered the town walls by crossing over a moat! This place was really amazing; we even saw wheel ruts cut into the old stone lane. We found we were in the town of Peratallada, a beautifully restored village with many restaurants. I imagine on the weekends the car parks are full of touring buses, but today we had the town much to ourselves and wandered around through narrow streets, some only about 10’ wide.

We continued on past the city of Figueres and found the turn off for Llers, a tiny town in which the castle was owned by a count who tried in 1170 to convert the last few pagans who cursed him and turned him into a vampire who then ransacked the neighbors sucking their blood and producing monsters. A very brave nun dug him up after he died and put a stake through his heart, thus restoring calm to the area!

A few kilometers further and we came to
 Sant Llorenς de la Muga, a tiny walled village where we had a reservation. Hilary bravely drove into town on ever narrowing streets and was through town before we could find our hotel. On the second try we saw it and parked in a little square. We walked inside the Hotel Torre Laurentii, a Rusticae Hotel, and were greeted by Stephan, an American from Miami who married a Catalan and moved here ten years ago. They spent four years remodeling this old house and have been operating it as a hotel/restaurant since. Bob and I are in the older section.

  We also have a semi-private sitting room full of books and comfortable chairs. Hilary has a room off the garden and an outside sitting area. Very nice! We walked one block to the small center square and sat down in a café and split a Margarita pizza and beer, as a few tractors drove by. The town has about 80 year-round residents and swells to 500 in the summer when second-home owners and tourists arrive.

After a short nap we set out down the road and up a winding trail up the hill to the watchtower that overlooks the town.

  From there we got great views of the town and could see our rooms. We walked staright down 251 steps from the tower back to town and collapsed for a while. 

Stephan brought me a gin & tonic, and at 8:30 we joined other guests for dinner on tables set outside next to the ancient olive press as the evening was so warm. 





Cristina, Stephan’s wife and the chef, produced a great dinner for us. We started out with gazpacho, pureed with a scoop of olive oil ice cream drizzled with balsamic vinegar - really great! I had roast rabbit with mushrooms and Bob and Hil had a confit of pork with local cherries, and a good bottle of local red wine. For dessert we split a dish of mascarpone ice cream with orange slices.

Tomorrow: Dalí!