Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Figueres is on the train line between Barcelona, Girona and Portbou on the French
border, and there are regular connections to Girona (€3.90, 30 minutes) and Bar-
celona (from €9.40, 1¾ hours) and to Portbou and the French border (€2 to €2.30,
25 minutes).
Don't Miss
Teatre-Museu Dalí
A purple-pink building topped by giant boiled eggs and stylised Oscar statues? Smack in
the middle of a dowdy provincial town? This can only mean one thing in these parts: Dalí!
Inside, the ground floor (1st level) includes a semicircular garden area on the site of the
original theatre stalls. In its centre is a classic piece of weirdness called
Taxi Plujós
(Rainy Taxi), composed of an early Cadillac, which was said to have belonged to Al Ca-
pone, and a pile of tractor tyres; both are surmounted by statues, with a fishing boat bal-
anced precariously above the tyres. Put a coin in the slot and water washes all over the
inside of the car. The
Sala de Peixateries
(Fish Shop Room) off here holds a collection of
Dalí oils, including the famous
Autoretrat Tou amb Tall de Bacon Fregit
(Soft Self-Portrait
with Fried Bacon) and
Retrat de Picasso
(Portrait of Picasso).
If proof were needed of Dalí's acute sense of the absurd,
Gala Mirando el Mar Mediter-
ráneo
(Gala Looking at the Mediterranean Sea) on the 2nd level would be it. With the help
of coin-operated viewfinders, the work appears, from the other end of the room, to be a
portrait of Abraham Lincoln.
In August the museum opens at night (admission €12, 10pm to 1am) for a maximum of
500 people (booking essential). You are treated to a glass of
cava
(sparkling wine).
NEED TO KNOW
www.salvador-dali.org
;
Plaça de Gala i Salvador Dalí 5, Figueres; admission incl Dalí
Joies & Museu de l'Empordà adult/under 9yr €11/free; 9am-8pm Jul-Sep,
9.30am-6pm Mar-Jun & Oct, shorter hr rest of yr, closed Mon Oct-Jun
Tarragona
POP 140,323
The seemingly eternally sunny port city of Tarragona is a fascinating mix of Mediter-
ranean beach life, Roman history and medieval alleyways. Easily Catalonia's most
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