We set out from Barcelona in out little Ford KA--Roger kept pointing out that its engine was smaller than those of a number of motorcycles but he still thought it fun to drive. We took the main highway north and got off at Vidreres, a small inland town near the first beaches on the coast. The omnipresent George had arranged a hotel room for 40 Eu/night; that sounded too good to be true but we took it anyway.
The room was fine; we didn't even have to share a bath. The small hotel was upstairs from a big restaurant Can Pou. You had to walk through a family area occupied by a variety of interesting characters including children and old ladies in wheelchairs (two of each). We debated whether or not to eat lunch in the restaurant which was big and dark and not terribly appealing when empty. We eventually decided in its favor, not noticing until afterwards that it is Michelin-listed. The food was fantastic and the restaurant very popular; Saturday lunch was full to capacity and noisy in the happy way a good restaurant is always noisy, with people eating and talking. The restaurant is a two generation business, working on becoming three. There was a nice little girl of about four who followed her mother around while orders were being taken, pretending to write them down in her own little notebook and clearly delighted to be part of the system.
We took long naps, checked to be sure that we could eat at Can Pou in the evening (no problem; lunch is their busy time) and set off for Tossa de Mar, a pleasant enough beach town with medieval fortifications dominating the hill at one end of the cove. The medieval structure has been heavily rebuilt so it's possible to walk comfortably to the top. Pretty enough, but not yet enough to justify the trip.
Dinner was just as good--Roger had loved his fish soup at lunch and so ordered paella, deciding afterwards that he really didn't like the Catalan version but we agreed that was his taste, not a bad dish. I stuck to grilled fish and grilled veggies--all perfect. We asked the waiter/owner to pick us a good local white wine and he did and it was marvelous. The most memorable part of the meal was Roger's dessert--heavy cream with candied nuts.
The next morning we had the perfect breakfast--great coffee, serrano ham, pa amb tomaquet, and croissants from the bakery next door. The pa is one of the local specialties. It's just very good toasted bread, drizzled with olive oil on which a cut tomato has been rubbed. It's also heaven. I do plan to try it here.
At breakfast we heard the sad news that the restaurant would be closed in the evening (our hosts arranged a reservation at a Taverna just outside town). Still, we set off for our day in Empuries in good spirits.
I think blog entries should be pretty short so will save Empuries and Girona for one more post. If there are any readers like Greg planning to go to Spain you can reach the Can Pou by emailing info@canpou.net or calling +34 972 850 014. It gets the highest rating from us--including being good value in a very expensive country. Our total bill with two big meals and two breakfasts was 222.13 Eu; we paid more than that for a single night without food in the expensive hotel in Barcelona. Elizabet, the young mother mentioned earlier, speaks good English.
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