Sant Pere de Rodes

We drive through the vineyards of the Empordà DO, which stretches from the Pyrenees mountains to the beaches of the Mediterranean, to reach the Monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes. The guide tells us entertaining anecdotes about monks growing wine while we visit the church, the two cloisters and the wine cellar. We end the visit at the bar’s lookout, with bird’s-eye views over Port de la Selva and a taste of that wine shaped by the Tramuntana. On the beautiful roads that cross the Cap de Creus Natural Park, we reach the Dalí house in Portlligat, nestled between a white-washed hamlet at the foot of a cove where small fishing boats dock. This house, which Dalí converted into a studio, was a meeting place for many artists and intellectuals of that era, such as his filmmaker friend Buñuel and poet García Lorca. We decide to stop for lunch in Cadaqués, one of those perfect postcard villages on the Catalan coast. Its narrow, steep old town is an invitation to enjoy a calm stroll accompanied by the murmur of the sea.