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Salvador Dali (1904-1989) was definitely the most visible artist born in the 20th century. He was probably among the most controversial, and he may have been the best. Decades before Andy Warhol made the scene, Dali was the very first artist positioned as a bona-fide mass media superstar. From the time of his first public art exhibition - at the tender age of 13 - to his death at age 84, his entire life was a spectacle, and one that was always eagerly consumed by the public.
| To explore the life of
Salvador Dali, one must
go a bit off of the
beaten path - just as Dali himself often did. To taste the places
where Dali was born, where he lived, loved, painted, plotted, feasted,
and eventually died, you’ll have to travel towards Catalonia, the
northeastern corner
of Spain. The people of Catalonia are proud of their surrealist son, and Dali fever infects the entire region, from Barcelona, right up the Costa Brava (the string of Mediterranean beach resort towns just north of Barcelona), and into the regions just barely on Spain’s side of the Pyrenees. It is here, in the triangle formed by the towns of Cadaques, Figueres, and Pubol, that one may devour a series of sites where Dali’s legacy is most vibrantly preserved. Visiting the ancient castle in Pubol that Dali bought for his muse Gala, as well as the museum devoted to Dali in his home town of Figueres, and the sprawling home in Port Lligat (Cadaques) that Dali and Gala shared for most of their adult lives, provides the traveler with a complete portrait of Dali as both a man and as an artist. The trip is made even more worthwhile by breathtaking Mediterranean views, the whitewashed Catalonian villages, and the trek over a lush green mountain that you’ll experience along the way. Using Barcelona as a home base, a two day/one night trip is ample time to see the three main Dali sites, without too much rushing about. Expanding the trip to two nights affords some highly recommended time to stop along the way, allowing exploration of the region’s many additional points of interest. It is possible to make this trip using a combination of RENFE trains and SAFRA busses, but the schedules are a bit restrictive, and in one case the bus only travels one-way (from Figueres to Cadaques, as part of a circuitous route through some additional locations), so you won’t be able to get back. For this reason, renting or borrowing a car is recommended. Making a reservation on-line before leaving home is always wise, but do not use www.rentalcargroup.com. After I paid a non-refundable down payment, they changed my reservation to a different pick-up location, and to a more expensive car. Making matters worse, I wasn’t informed of this until after I arrived in Barcelona, and then only via an email that I was lucky to have seen at all. Alternatively, the Avis location at the Barcelona-Sants railway station is a good spot for the rental: their rates are moderate and they speak English reasonably well. Sants is the central train station for the city, and is easy to get to from any other part of town. It is a two-hour drive from Barcelona to the village of Pubol. The AP7 (formerly called the A-7) towards Girona is the fastest way, but it is an ugly tollway with a staggeringly expensive fee at the end. Taking the N-11 is a much more pleasant drive: it winds through a long series of Costa Brava resort towns along the way, all toll-free. As is the case with North American road tripping via old US highways (as opposed to Interstates), this more rewarding route will take longer - at least four hours. |
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After clearing the somewhat congested Costa Brava resort areas, N-11 moves through a charming series of ancient Catalunyan villages and picturesque farms. Terra cotta and tile abound, marking the wonderful farmhouses along the route as quintessentially Spanish. The spectacular Pyrenees loom large in the background during the entire northerly drive. Don’t forget your camera - this is where the pros go to get their postcard photos!
Motoring in Spain can be interesting, because a lot of the roads seem to have been denied the privilege of being named. Circle interchanges at most intersections are equipped with signs pointing to the next city on each route. This isn’t nearly as intimidating as it sounds. The signs pointing the way from town to town are large, clear, and accurate. Just north of Girona, N-11 connects with C-66. Take that towards Palamos. Pass the town of Bordils and pass the road to Flaça. Take the right-hand road to La Perla, which then leads to Pubol.
Pubol itself is a tiny village, not more than a speck on any map that bothers to include it. Here stands the wonderful Casa Museu Castell Gala-Dali, the museum-house located within the castle that Dali presented to his muse Gala. In the ultimate fairy tale romance, Dali awarded his princess an authentic 14th century castle, and declared that he would only enter the premises on her explicit invitation.
You, however, may enter for the price of 6 Euros.
Purchased by Dali in the late 1960s, and renovated during 1970 and 1971, Gala lived here until her death in 1982. Dali himself lived here for a few years after that, until a fire in his bedroom provided the impetus for a move back to his long-time residence at Port Lligat. Gala wished for the castle to be decorated austerely, but the premises aren’t completely without touches that are unmistakably Dalinian. The painted ceiling, a throne in the foyer, and long-legged elephant sculptures in the garden remind us that no one else could have possibly been responsible for this unique residence. Sharp eyed visitors will spot Dali’s last-ever painting-in-progress on an easel, the multiple busts of Wagner in the gardens, and a chess set made of pewter fingertips in honor of Dali’s friend and fellow Surrealist, Marcel Duchamp. Even for a castle, the place isn’t exactly massive; the most dedicated and meticulous Dali fan will be able to experience the entire castle - and the lovely gardens out back - in no more than an hour and a half.
Wandering through the rooms of Castle Pubol is not unlike walking through Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley. The visitor to either site cannot help but to be continually aware of the genius that inhabited the rooms, the icon that used the furniture on display, and the legend that keeps these properties open as a destination for plebeians such as ourselves. Ultimately, the garden implements, the record albums, and the kitchen utensils on display are no different from our own. Visiting the homes of these larger than life figures is perhaps the best way to remind ourselves that they were not demigods, but just people. Although both men were definitely possessed of vast talents layered with their own legendary eccentricities, Salvador Dali’s mundane record player and Elvis Presley’s humdrum kitchen bring these entities right back to Earth.
The reception desk at the castle will give you a brochure and map with tourist information about the three local Dali sites. Check your soft watch: it’s time for the two-hour trip to Port Lligat. Back on the C-66 in the opposite direction from the way you arrived, take the road to Parlava, where you can get the C-252 to Verges. In Verges, take the C-31 through Figueres (don’t stop - you’ll return the next day), and then get the C-260 to Cadaques via Roses. This is a relatively simple series of changes, since the roads are all marked at the circle interchanges with either the road number or the name of the next town.
The first three-quarters of this trip - almost all the way to Roses - shouldn’t take more than forty-five minutes. Roses is a beautiful Mediterranean resort, full of bright white buildings set into the verdant green mountains overlooking the astounding blue sea. The Pyrenees meet the Mediterranean here. With all of the luxury homes built right into the mountainside, the town seems to have been built almost vertically, with layer upon layer of houses reaching higher and higher up the cliffs. The town of Roses is also home to a famous citadel complete with an informative companion museum. Like all towns in this part of the world, the very narrow streets do tend to meander. It is easy to lose the C-260 in the twists and turns the road takes going through town. Keeping a firm focus on the road while avoiding the dangerous distraction of the beautiful surroundings can be tricky.
The final leg of the trip to Cadaques takes longer than the entire previous journey from Pubol to this point, since it involves going over a mountain. The series of challenging curves in the road eventually reach quite an altitude, until Roses becomes a distant speck, many hundreds of feet below. The views here are tremendous, and are to be savored. Among the hills are the ruins of archaic dwellings, crumbling stone houses abandoned by previous owners who were truly blessed with a spectacular view of their homeland. Before this modern road was built, these shacks must have been completely isolated in the folds of the mountain range, nestled in little private valleys with spectacular views of the sea, and of Roses or Cadaques far below.
Back down the other side of the mountain is Cadaques, and then just a few minutes farther is Port Lligat.
| The Casa Museu Salvador Dali
in Port Lligat
was Dali’s home and studio
for decades. It is here that many of his major and important
works were created. Right on the edge of the lovely bay are a
warren of fishing shacks that Dali strung together and expanded upon to
form his palace. This is holy ground for followers of Surrealist
art. You’ll need to make a reservation to see the interior
(pllgrups@dali-estate.org). Groups of eight enter every ten
minutes, and are guided through the four sections of the homestead by
docents waiting in each zone. While waiting your turn, walk down the short stone pier and look at the strange artifacts that the fishermen have erected on their boats. At the end of the pier, a tiny dirt path will take you up into the hillside overlooking the bay. While this path is well-trodden, it is not the museum’s property, and can be dangerous, so proceed at your own risk. Doing so will reward you with a view of the Dali estate that can’t be had anywhere else, including a peek at some terraced hillside gardens that are not part of the tour. There is also a small stone monument along the path that has “S. Dali” cut into the rock, and a "secret" back door from the estate that leads down the cliffs to the sea via a set of stone stairs. Be back on time for your tour appointment, and marvel at the casa Dali. What began as a single shack when purchased by Salvador Dali in 1930, evolved over more than four decades into a great labyrinth of connected rooms. The integration of the various small buildings that make up the property is seamless; visitors will be unaware of moving between the separate structures. The thing that is most striking about Dali’s home is how normal it is. With the exception of the giant taxidermy polar bear that greets visitors in the foyer, there is very little inside the house that screams "famous Surrealist artist’s residence!". Like much of the interior of the castle he later bought for Gala, this could be the home of any well-off Catalonian. Perhaps the most subtly fascinating room is of course Salvador Dali’s studio. Beginning in 1931, most of his masterworks were created here, including The Persistence of Memory (also known as Soft Watches), which was painted that same year. The studio is much, much smaller than one would expect, and is noteworthy for an apparatus of pulleys that allows larger canvases to be raised and lowered through a slot in the floor, so that the area being worked on was always at a comfortable position for the artist. Also of extreme importance in this room is the window. Through the single clear pane of glass comes the sunlight reflecting off of the Mediterranean, the shores of which are just a few yards away. Were the window framed, it might be mistaken for one of Dali’s own paintings, because the view out this window, unmodified, has formed the background for so many of Dali’s most famous creations. To feast your eyes upon such works as The Specter of Sex Appeal, The Weaning of Furniture-Nutrition, or Dali Nude in Contemplation..., is to witness the precise view that Dali saw when he gazed out the window of his studio. Paintings such as The Angel of Port Lligat and Port Lligat at Sunset are perhaps more obvious takes on the same theme. Art geeks will want to "have a moment" upon entering this room as Salvador Dali’s spirit can clearly be felt here. |
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The pool area is next; it is shaped like a set of male genitalia, but that won’t be immediately obvious to those not viewing it from above. A pair of giant heads overlook the area from trees growing on the adjacent hillside. A breakfast area features Surrealist touches including a taxidermy rhinoceros head sprouting the wings of a giant bird. Aha! Now this feels more like Salvador Dali’s house ought to!
Ten minutes drive back over a hill is
Cadaques. Like a smaller
and artier version of Roses, this lovely town sits right on the edge of
the Mediterranean; the shoulder of one main road is mere inches from a
short drop to the sea. It was here, on the shores of this fishing
port, that many of the Surrealists became inspired to create their
famous lucid dreams. In addition to Salvador Dali, it was Marcel
Duchamp in particular who frequented Cadaques, frequenting a place
called bar Meliton. Meliton is right across the narrow street
from the water, meaning that the door is twenty feet or less from the
sea. There isn’t anything of particular interest inside, except a
dozen or two small framed pieces of indifferent contemporary art,
usually inscribed and dedicated to Sr. Meliton by the artists. A
bit of Duchamp ephemera provides historical context in the small
cafe. A pleasant place for beverages or a light meal.
A great deal of Dali’s philosophy dealt with eating and oral fixations. Fortunately for him - and for the visitor to Cadaques - there are plenty of wonderful places to eat here. Right along the water, on the tiny strip of flat land between the end of the hills and the beginning of the sea, are a generous selection of eateries. Many - if not all - of them like to play up the notion that Salvador Dali dined in them frequently. Some have photos of Dali and Gala displayed, while others have dishes named after the artist (and in some cases, created by him). The hotels Barroco and Playa Sol claim to have hosted the artist, as well as restaurants Ca L’Anita, La Galiota, and Sa Gambina. La Gritta restaurant is also good for mid-priced Italian food.
Just down the road (an easy walk in nice weather) is one of the many hotels in Cadaques, the Lane Petit. The rooms there are small but comfortable, and the staff are friendly. Cadaques is close enough to France that the rooms have been equipped with bidets in addition to the more modern style of plumbing. Rooms that face the sea are a tad more expensive. Here’s the corker: after a lifetime of staying in hotel rooms that chose their wall art from wholesale hotel decor warehouses, based on the fact that the paintings match the carpet, it is lovely and enchanting to stay in a place that actually has fine art on the walls of the rooms. How refreshing to see prints chosen for their integrity as art, rather than the tired computer-applied pastels seen so commonly everywhere else. This is great. Even more points are awarded for the fact that the hotel had the guts to even make at least one of the works on display a nude. The artist? Do I need to tell you that the refreshing decor was by a certain Sr. S. Dali, and that the nude subject in question was one Gala Dali?
Cadaques is considered a resort town, and therefore it is fairly slow during the winter months. Budget-minded travelers may save some money by making their trip in November or December, but keep in mind that some of the hotels and restaurants close altogether during those months, and even more close up after New Year. The cold wind whipping in off of the sea may also make winter travel less entertaining, as walking through the entertainment district near the sea and enjoying the culture and the view can be a high point of the Cadaques experience. Dali’s home is also closed for part of January and February.
After a restful evening
in Cadaques, the main event on this trip awaits
in Figueres. Pick up the C-260, and follow the signs back to
Figueres. A fork in the road exists that lets you bypass Roses
and move straight on to Figueres. Assuming you don’t get stuck
behind a construction vehicle on the mountain, you’ll be able to do the
drive in an hour. Just outside of Figueres is a part of the country that appears to be a vacation spot for the middle class - not unlike Wisconsin Dells or most of Florida. An animal park, a water park, and a place where they apparently make the giant Fiberglas figures for every kiddie park and theme restaurant in Europe will keep the kids antsy en route to something far more enriching for them. There’s also a pet shop within a gas station, just in case you need a parakeet to go with that tank of gas and oil change.
Figueres is not a large city, and it may remind visitors of a tiny Barcelona, minus the wondrous Antoni Gaudi architecture. It was near here that Salvador Dali was born and raised. Late in his life he bought the semi-demolished remains of the old municipal theater. It was in this theater that he had his first ever exhibition, at the age of 13. Now it is not only a museum, but a work of art in itself, a giant Surrealist Object created as a monument to himself by an all too modest Salvador Dali. Conceived in 1964 and finally opened to the public a decade later, this stunning juxtaposition of architecture and art has now been drawing visitors from all over the world for over three decades.
Hard core Dali fans will want to block out at least four to five hours to savor every corner of the museum. Casual visitors can breeze through it in ninety minutes. It will be crowded at almost any time of any day of the year. As it is a mostly indoor destination, seasonal surges in tourism to the region have no effect on attendance, but perhaps go on a sunny day if you’re into avoiding the crowds (as is true with any museum).
The museum's twenty-two galleries are mostly devoted to Dali’s output over the course of his lifetime, with all of his key periods represented. The museum guide suggests that the galleries are to be viewed in no particular order, but they are numbered nevertheless. Visitors can also view Dali’s own personal art collection, and just a few galleries of art by contemporary artists that Dali admired, such as Antoni Pixtot.
Be advised that Salvador Dali was a working artist who made his living selling his paintings. Therefore, the vast majority of his masterworks are the property of museums and private collections around the world. As a result, the original paintings of many of Dali’s most famous images are not to be seen here. Some of them, such as The Persistence of Memory (Soft Watches), Gala Nude Looking at the Sea Which at 18 Meters Appears as President Lincoln, Hallucinogenic Toreador, and Birth of Man, are represented here by reproductions on tapestries, in photos, and in other mediums. Other key works such as Soft Construction with Boiled Beans, Tuna Fishing, The Dream of Columbus, and Metamorphosis of Narcissus are nowhere to be found.
Conversely, Leda Atomica, The Poetry of America, Portrait of Pablo Picasso in the XXI Century, Fifty Abstract Paintings Which Viewed at Two Yards..., and Soft Self Portrait with Grilled Bacon are also clearly important works in the Dali ouvre and are to be savored within this museum’s walls. More spectacularly, many Dalinian creations on display in the museum were made specifically for installation therein, and can be seen nowhere else. The Mae West Room and the ceiling of the room known as the Palace of Winds are major works in the Dalinian canon and form an intrinsic part of the museum. Salvador Dali’s crypt can also be paid a visit in the lower level of the museum. Gala’s final resting place is in the cellar at the castle in Pubol. Given that the two of them were inseparable from 1929 until Gala’s death in 1981, it is curious that they chose not to be buried together.
A ticket to the museum also includes entry to the Joies Dali, a spectacular collection of jewelry designed by Dali. This exhibit is in a separate building adjoined to the main museum, and has its own entrance. Those not wishing to see the bulk of the museum may purchase a separate entry to the Joies.
| After spending an afternoon
looking at
paintings like Basket of
Bread,
and Portrait of Gala with Two Lamb Chops Balanced on Her Shoulder,
visitors
are
likely
to
be hungry. There is plenty to eat in the
vicinity of the museum. The Dalicatessen is nearby, as is a
simple bread shop called Sant Pau, featuring hot and fresh sandwiches,
empanyadas, and fritters. As is the case in Cadaques, many local
eateries will try to draw the tourists in with claims that they were
Dali’s favorite place to dine; some of them may be telling the
truth. Try the restaurant in the Hotel Duran for an upscale meal,
and also investigate the Cafeteria Astoria, restaurant Girfe, and the
Motel Emporda to find out where Dali got his appetite. After dinner, an arrival back in Barcelona is a two-hour drive away. Alternatively, leave Figueres before dinner, drive an hour or so down C-11 (back towards Barcelona) to C-63, and you’ll find yourself back on the Costa Brava (AP-7 tollway also connects to C-63). Pick any of the dozen or so towns on the coast. Most of them offer accommodations in all price ranges, plenty of food options, and inviting beaches. Staying in a town like Calella, which is just about all the way back into Barcelona, will insure that you can get your car rental returned first thing in the morning and avoid paying for an extra day’s rental. In Calella’s so-called Pedestrian Zone, the Hotel Vila Calella has a medieval castle vibe in the lobby, and small, quiet, cozy rooms. Their optional breakfast is good, and the staff are helpful. The streets nearby have the same feeling as Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter, with plenty of little avenues full of shops, cafes, and entertainment to explore and discover. A few blocks south of there is the Riara Capaspre, a road which divides the town in half. South of the Capaspre are a cluster of large, American-style high rise hotels and some American-style bars and restaurants. Beyond that is a park area with campgrounds. All three parts of town have easy beach access. Off season, prices drop significantly, but some of the town’s businesses may not even be open. During the summer season, the region may be swamped with vacationing twenty-somethings. Back in Barcelona, among the sea of museums, architecture, food, and nightlife, there is one more site for the Dali fanatic to take in. At the sea-end of the Rambla, by the Colon monument, there’s a large cafe called La Cava. Next door to it is a foreboding little door that leads up a few flights of stairs into an ancient apartment building. On the third floor is an art gallery advertising an homage to Salvador Dali. See it. There must be a hundred paintings in there, and most of them are of Dali, Don Quixote, and 1970s pin up girls, usually all in the same painting. One "favorite" is two "sexy" female derrieres, a snail, and Dali’s face, all superimposed on a surrealist landscape. Quimet Sabate Cassanova is the artist, and he may or may not also be the friendly old coot who ran around turning all the lights on when we walked into the darkened galleries. Want to see Dali as Christ on a movie screen partly covered by fishnet stocking-clad legs? This is the place. An artist named Cesc Sonera Lopez shows work in this gallery too - more homage to Don Quixote. This is definitely one for a guide to "wacky Europe". One of Salvador Dali’s most famous quotes is: “The only difference between a madman and myself is that I am not mad”. Spend a little bit of time during your next Barcelona adventure to experience the Salvador Dali road trip, and decide for yourself! |
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James Teitelbaum in a freelance writer based in Chicago. His books are Tiki Road Trip (2003 and 2007), Big Stone Head (2009), and Destination: Cocktails (2012). He has also written for Playboy, American Heritage, AAA World, Road Trip America, Tiki Magazine, and many others.
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