Costa Brava

Northeast of Barcelona is the litttoral known as the Costa Brava. (roughly, the area between Barcelona and France). We drove up to Girona, a pleasant little city in the foothills of the Pyrenees,  which we could see, snow-covered, in the distance. Our aim was a scenic road between Girona and the sea. It turned out to be not very scenic, but we pressed on up the coast and happened upon something that was. Outside the town of Palafrugell is an old mountain fastness called Begur. 

Now it is a vacation destination – lots of villas and condos. But near the top it is still an old village.

On the way, we found another destination we were looking for, a good restaurant. Not too many of those open here this time of year, since the Costa Brava is not a winter resort. But we found a delightful one, by accident. 

The Galena  - Mas Comengau is an albergo – three-star hotel with excellent restaurant. The owner, Miguel, bought the farmouse (as in French, called a mas), made of stone in the old Roman style. This one is over 200 years old.

The menu was really terrific. We chose the first thing Miguel recommended: caldèr d’arròs amb llamartol  (rice-pot with lobster) for two. It was perfect:  a rich, brown broth in which the rice is simmered with the lobster. 

This was preceded by an appetizer of grilled squid and sausage, with garlic and peppers.

We got back to Barceloa by nightfall, just in time to get thoroughly lost and to take about an hour wandering aimlessly through the lovely streets to find our way back to the hotel.

Miguel, the owner, with Sharif. Miguel is a very sweet man - from La Mancha, but his wife is Catalan. Along with the rest of his staff,k he made us welcome and comfortable, in the hospitable tradition of this beautiful part of the world.


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Tomorrow, I will go to Madrid, starting my Eurailpass, on which I have 21 days of first-class travel anytime within the next two months. This includes certain ships, so it occurred to me that I could go all the way to Crete or Rhodes. Stay tuned!