Travel and Adventure by Various Travel Authors

By Jennifer Coburn

Standing beneath the geodesic glass dome at the center of the Dali Theatre-Museum in Figueres, Spain, my 14-year-old daughter, Katie, and I are overwhelmed. Our eyes bounce between Salvador Dali's seemingly hallucinogen-inspired paintings and equally surreal sculptures. Katie spots Dali's photographic oil, "Gala Nude Looking at the Sea, Which at 18 Metres Appears as President Lincoln," while my attention is focused on a brick niche where a rhinoceros head, rust octopus and cubist angel hover over a statue of Moses.

What we fail to notice is that we are standing on the grave of Salvador Dali, the Spanish artist widely known for his melting clock imagery. A discreetly placed stone rests in the center of the floor, a surprisingly quiet marker for the artist who was known for his bizarre exhibitionism. Dali once showed up for a lecture in Paris in a Rolls-Royce stuffed with cauliflower. He also appeared at a surrealism show dressed in a deep-sea diving suit.

Perhaps Dali's unapologetic flamboyance was an indulgence only for life. Or the artist might be coyly playing posthumous hide-and-seek with visitors to his museum. There is a great deal that is left for visitors to interpret. Throughout the exhibition rooms, the museum offers titles and dates of Dali's work but is devoid of descriptive panels and audio guides. Guests must simply imagine what inspired Dali to create "Bust of a Retrospective Woman," which sports a corn-on-the-cob scarf and a baguette hat.

The Fundacio Gala-Salvador Dali manages the world's largest collection of the artist's work: more than 4,000 paintings, sculptures, jewels, pieces of furniture and sketches. It operates three museums in Figueres, Port Lligat and Pubol, creating the "Dali Triangle" in the Catalonia region of Spain.

Our three-day surreal road trip begins in Dali's birthplace of Figueres, a two-hour train ride from Barcelona. The museum itself is a surreal structure, ornately adorned with whimsical statues of golden Oscarlike figures, multiple oversized eggs and other Dalinian iconography. Dominating the theatric space in the center of the Figueres museum is a massive oil painting designed for the 1941 premiere of the ballet "Labyrinth."

An enormous glass window leads to a courtyard with a centerpiece sculpture as perplexing as Dali himself. On the hood of a classic black Cadillac stands a statue of a rotund Queen Esther, given to Dali by Austrian artist Ernst Fuchs. Suspended over the back of the car is an overturned rowboat dripping with faux water droplets. Visitors can prompt a downpour inside Dali's "Rainy Taxi," which is occupied by a life-sized model chauffer and mannequin passenger.

The museum houses an impressive collection of Dali's artwork but is also rich with the surrealist's personal history. In 1919, when the building served as the Municipal Theatre, 14-year-old Dali had his first art exhibition with Figueres painters Josep Bonaterra Gras and Josep Monturiol Puig. Twenty years later, the theater burned during the Spanish Civil War. The site remained in ruins until 1970, when construction of the Dali Theatre-Museum began. Designed by Dali, the museum opened its doors in 1974. Dali spent the last five years of his life in a building connected to the museum until his death in 1989.

It is a short walk to the Sarfa bus station, which is located across the street from the Renfe train stop where we arrived from Barcelona. After an hour-long bus ride that hugs the narrow mountainside, we are in Cadaques, the seaside village where Dali spent his childhood holidays. When he was 28 years old, he purchased a fisherman's hut in the neighboring town of Port Lligat and added to the home for more than 40 years. Today it is an expansive multi-split-level estate, the site of the Salvador Dali House-Museum.

Upon our arrival in Cadaques, Katie and I see no taxis. The bus station offers no maps. Yet we cannot seem to muster a panic. We give each other a Euro-shrug and wander down a street where people are coming and going in swimsuits. From here, we easily find the main road, a smooth stone path that outlines the bay. One side is filled with restaurant tables and diners; the seaside is sparsely populated with swimmers and scuba divers. Seagulls squawk overhead, surrounding the fishing boats docking for the day.

The next morning a red-headed pixie at the smoothie shop gives us directions to Dali's home in Port Lligat as she blends our breakfast drinks.

It is a 15-minute walk up, then down a hill to Port Lligat. Several senior citizens make the trek without issue, though sadly neither the unpaved path to Port Lligat nor the terrain of the Dali home is wheelchair accessible. In true Dalinian style, the architecture is beautiful chaos, whitewashed multilevel gone wild. Guests wonder aloud why there is a rowboat pierced by a tree in Dali's front yard.

While the Theatre-Museum in Figueres allows guests to roam freely, the Museum-House in Port Lligat requires reservations so guided tours can be given to groups of eight to 12 at a time. Multilingual art historians provide background and insight, though some questions are unanswerable. This is, after all, the house of Dali. At the conclusion of the 40-minute tour, visitors are free to explore the grounds, which include a phallic lap pool with the Michelin Man standing guard. Stuffed plush snakes coil the beams of the makeshift cabana.

Katie and I retrace our route the next day, taking the Sarfa bus from Cadaques back to Figueres, then hopping on a Barcelona-bound Renfre train. We are the only passengers to depart the train at Flaca, a half-hour from Figueres. From here it is less than three miles to the medieval castle in Pubol that Dali bought for his wife and muse, Gala, as her private getaway. She accepted it with the condition that Dali only visit when given a written invitation.

Despite the fact that Gala rarely invited her husband to her retreat (and reportedly entertained several lovers), he refurbished the 14th-century castle, painted ceilings and walls, and landscaped the lush gardens to her exact specifications. Guests can view Gala's dresses, furniture and bed, along with several Dali creations, such as Gala's golden throne with an ethereal fresco. They can also see the famed stork-legged elephant sculpture in the garden that leads to a pool with 27 busts of the German composer Richard Wagner.

Our visit ends at the crypt of Gala, the Spartan opposite of the artistic playground that serves as Dali's burial ground. Her clearly marked casket sits at the center of a cold cellar without distraction. Outside is their car, Gala's leopard purse still sitting in the passenger seat.

Katie and I head back to Barcelona more baffled and delighted by Dali than when we began our journey. Returning to the city is like waking from a colorfully bizarre dream. We are oddly fulfilled by our utter lack of definitive understanding of Dali and his work, and this, I believe, is exactly how the surrealist master would want it.

WHEN YOU GO

For more information on the "Dali Triangle" and the Fundacio Gala-Dali: www.salvador-dali.org

Getting to Figueres: There are frequent daily trains from Barcelona on the RENFE train (Portbou). Stop in Figueres, $10 one way: www.renfe.com. It is a 10-minute walk to the museum, which is the focal point of the town. Across the street from the RENFE train station is the SARFA bus station, which has daily routes to Cadaques.

Getting to Cadaques: SARFA bus runs daily from Figueres to Cadaques, $7 one way: www.sarfa.com. A five-minute downhill walk will lead to the center of town, a seaside road with many hotels that are easy to find because of the ample signage.

Getting to Pubol: The town of Flaca — just 2.5 miles from Pubol — is a stop on the RENFE train line that runs from Figueres to Barcelona. Separate tickets must be purchased for each leg of the trip. A pedestrian path from the train station to the castle is not clearly marked, though travelers can make the trek on foot as roads are flat and well-paved. A short taxi ride to the castle is approximately $15.

Where to stay: Playa Sol - Cadaques, Platja Planc 3, $130 to $300: www.playasol.com. Ideally situated in the town center, this large hotel is nestled discreetly into the landscape. Rooms with balconies facing the bay are available. Family friendly with a large swimming pool.

Hotel Blaumer - Cadaques, c/massa d'Oro 21, $105 to $180: www.hotelblaumer.com. This clean, modern hotel also has a swimming pool, though it is set back slightly from the waterfront so rooms do not have direct views of the bay.

Jennifer Coburn is a freelance travel writer. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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