Costa Brava: Pals And Empuries

Next up on the tour of Costa Brava was the Catalan town of Pals, a walled-in, medieval village whose main feature is a large clock tower known as Torre de les Hores. A promontory known as Mirador del Pedro (bottom photo) allows sweeping views across the coastal plains to the Mediterranean and the Illes Medes offshore from L'Estartit.

The narrow, cobblestone streets are framed by semicircular arches, stone balconies and facades with pointed, arched windows. Walking from one medieval corner to the next, my Canon Rebel slipped from my hand and hit the paving stones with a crash. It sounded awful. Incredibly, the camera survived intact, without a scratch.

“You don’t want to take another bite out of that apple,” commented one of my fellow travelers, amazed that my camera still functioned properly after watching (and hearing) the entire incident. Hats off to the folks at Canon for making such a tough, resilient little digital camera. It took a lickin’ and kept on tickin’.

Founded by the Greeks in 575 B.C., Empuries is the ancient civilization’s largest outpost on the Iberian Peninsula. Eventually, Empuries became a city-state of Rome as legions attempted to cut off a key supply route of the Carthaginians. In the 20th century, the site became a major archeological dig that continues to this day.