Where to stay in Caldetas

I’ve been lucky enough to spend time there for a few weeks at a time here and there over the past few years, staying in a really lovely vacation apartment built up on top of the hill with beautiful views of the town below and the Mediterranean Sea.

Caldetas Town

What I especially love about visiting Caldetas is the feeling of utter relaxation. You can totally imagine why it has a reputation as being a spa retreat. The slow pace of life, strict adherence to the siesta policy and, of course, the presence of the sea just minutes from the town center set the tone for the kind of vacation you’re going to spend there: chilled out.

Just walking around and exploring the little streets is one of my favorite things to do there! There is even a small museum, called Fundacio Palau, which exhibits some works from Picasso.

There is even a thermal bathhouse in the town center that uses only the purest water from the mountains above. I’ve been there, and believe me, it’s everything you would expect!

When you’re not relaxing in a whirlpool, there are also many little restaurants that call this charming town home. Down the main strip is where you will find the majority of them- a mix of seafood, rustic Spanish, tapas bars, and a pizza place as well as small cafes and bars. If you spend a little time exploring the side streets there are also a few more restaurants, including one of my favorites- Fonda Manau

Like most Spanish villages and cities, there is also a central market on the main street, which has different sections for meat, vegetables, fruits, cheese and fresh seafood. As well, there is an open air market that was open on Tuesday and Friday mornings when I was there. The prices are very low and you can get local ingredients right from the farmers. Also, because Caldetas is not a hugely touristic destination, the locals are very friendly for the most part.

A short story: when ordering some meat for dinner from the butcher at the local market, I misheard the price and thought she said 13 euros instead of 30. When she went to ring me up, the price was much higher than expected and I realized my mistake. When I explained it to her she simply asked where I was staying and told me to bring the rest of the money when I came back down from the house the next time! That’s for sure not something you see everyday!

The Best Part? The Beach!

The star of the show in Caldetas is the beach, of course. There isn’t much better than waking up on a bright, sunny summer day and throwing on your bathing suit, walking 10 minutes down a hill and setting yourself up in the sand for the day.

The water is really clear and the beach was never super crowded when I’ve been there. Plus there are tons of little beach bars along the way to provide a nice respite from the hot Spanish sun.

If you like, there are also surfing and windsurfing classes offered during the summer months at reasonable prices.

For days when the weather isn’t warm enough for the beach or you simply need a change of scenery, you can easily take the train from the town center up or down the coast. Just an hour ride south you arrive in the Plaça de la Catalunya in the heart of Barcelona or a few hours up the coast is the town of Figueres, Dalí’s hometown and the location of the Dalí Theatre and Museum. Or, for a short trip, there are also many little town along the way that are fun to explore!

Just keep in mind that in many of the small villages most people won’t speak English, so you may want to brush up on your Spanish, or even better, Catalan!

Born in Figueres, in the Catalan region of northern Spain in 1904, Dalí found his artistic talents from an early age. He attending drawing school and in 1916, while spending a summer vacation with the family of Ramon Pichot, a local artist, Dalí first discovered impressionism. The following year, Dalí’s father, a middle-class lawyer and notary, organized an exhibition of his charcoal drawings in the family home.

In 1922, he moved to Madrid and studied at the Real Acadamia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando. During this time, he became close friends with others that would become prominent figures in Spain’s art and culture scene such as Pepín Bello, Luis Buñuel, and Federico García Lorca.

In 1926, Dalí was expelled from the school for causing unrest and moved the same year to Paris, where he was first introduced to Picasso, an already famous artist whom he greatly admired. From there, you can see that Picasso as well as Joan Miró influenced his work.

In 1929, Dalí’s life would change forever, when he met his future wife, muse and lifetime companion, Gala. Though she was married with a child at the time, their connection was unbreakable. From that point on, they never left each other’s side.

In 1931, in a beach house he and Gala had bought together, Dalí painted one of his most famous works, The Persistence of Memory, currently at the MOMA in New York City. From then on, Dalí grew increasingly better known, spending time in the U.S. and Spain. He was friends with many celebrities and known for his outlandish behavior, such as bringing his pet Ocelot around with him or leaving a drawing on the bill instead of paying his restaurant tab, because he was sure they wouldn’t want to throw out such a valuable piece of artwork.

Though he spent time living all throughout the world, Dalí maintained a strong connection to his hometown, Figueres. Today, the Dalí Theatre-Museum is located in the building that was the town’s theater when he was child. It was burned down in the Spanish Civil War and remained in that state for many years.

In 1960, Dalí and the mayor of Figures decided to rebuild the run down theatre into a museum, dedicating it to Dalí. It holds the single largest and most diverse collection of his art worldwide, much of which is from his personal collection. There are also many other mediums such as sculptures, collages, and perhaps things that can’t necessarily be categorized except that they came from the depths of Dalí’s fascinating mind.

One of the most popular spots of the theatre-museum is the 3-D installation made from custom furniture that looks like Mae West from a certain spot in the room.

Having gone there myself, I can truly say it is an experience that cannot be put into words. Dalí was a master of mystery, evoking an almost discomfort of strangeness for his viewers that reached beyond reality and into another realm of thinking. Perhaps that is why is he so well revered; he made us think about things from an uncomfortable point of view.

Upon discussing his hopes for the theatre-museum, Dalí remarked:

“I want my museum to be a single block, a labyrinth, a great surrealist object. It will be totally theatrical museum. The people who come to see it will leave with the sensation of having had a theatrical dream.”

From Barcelona, it takes a few hours to reach Figueres, then about a 15-20 minute walk to reach the museum. There are also other attractions to see, but you can imagine that the majority of the focus is on Dalí. There were very long lines to enter (we waited over an hour) and the museum is large, but with many different small rooms, so they can get easily crowded. I would definitely recommend to go outside of the tourist season (summer) to try and beat the crowds.You can also book the tickets online, which cost 12€ for one adult.

Also, don’t forget to check out the Dalí Jewels section of the museum, which is a separate entrance. With our ticket to the main museum we could also enter this section for free.

Other than that, there’s not much to say other than the Dalí Theatre-Museum is truly an experience you don’t want to miss.

Featured image courtesy of Roger Higgins via Library of Congress.

[Wikipedia], [Dalí Museum]

Andorra consists mostly of rugged mountains, which led to many years of isolation, keeping it relatively absent from European mainstream history. Even today, there is no train or airport that will take you to Andorra. The closest main airports are Barcelona and Toulouse, which are both over three hours away.

We drove north from Spain through Andorra and the roadways consist predominantly of winding, mountain roads with few tunnels. You can imagine how isolated it would have been even 100 years ago without these updated routes!

Though Andorra is most famous for its world-class ski resorts and well-to-do tourist infrastructure, it is also a pleasant destination during the summer months. The capital of Andorra, Andorra La Vella is the highest capital city in Europe.

With an alpine and continental climate, it has more snow in winter, low humidity and is slightly cooler in summer than the lower altitudes. There are also, on average, 300 days of sunshine per year. Walking around, you could absolutely feel the mountain air and there was a bit of a chill that you wouldn’t experience just a few hours south in Spain.

Today, the population of Andorra is about 85,000 people with approximately 1/3 of the population being of Andorran national decent. The rest is a mix of French, Spanish and Portuguese. Catalan is the official language of the country, but we heard Spanish and French also widely spoken.

At first, it seemed strange that such a small region between two of Europe’s largest countries would even gain, let alone retain its independence. Surprisingly, Andorra has been its own principality since A.D. 1278!

We stayed for a few hours in the capital city of Andorra La Vella. First impressions were, of course, the scenery. Every corner, street and crossing looks like it belongs in a postcard. After walking around a bit, you can clearly distinguish that tourism accounts for the majority of the GDP at 80%. With duty free status, Andorra is a popular destination for purchasing goods. Walking down the main boulevard, you were surrounded on all sides by cigarette, perfume and handbag shops.

My favorite part of the city was walking through the old neighborhood, with small, winding pedestrian paths, sidewalk cafes and glimpses of mountains tops through the breaks in buildings. The city center also had a clock statue from Salvador Dalí!

Overall, our short visit to Andorra left me with a few lasting impressions.

• Andorra is full of natural beauty and stunning scenery no matter where you look.
• It is extremely well kept and looks almost like it popped out of a storybook.
• And lastly, in the future when I’m rich and famous (yeah right!), I’ll plan a long winter vacation there and stay at one of the many mountain ski resorts.

Sources: Visit Andorra, Wikipedia