Megalithic structures are those made with large (mega) stones (lithic) and I’m going to say usually a long time ago because we humans seem to have stopped exerting such great individual effort to build small structures from such large materials. (We’ve instead distributed the great effort and probably exert more than ever. Think about the vast amount of oil it takes to make most things these days.) Think: Stonehenge.
Just outside Roses, not at all on the way to Cadaques, is a short hiking trail that takes you past several megaliths called Dolmens mostly used for funerary type activity. One impressive structure was a tomb that, according to the local authority, used to include a corridor extending from the remaining structure.
There were several other structures along this trail and more we didn’t see. This one, with stones stacked in a near perfect circle, about 6 feet high, was particularly impressive for its precision. László called it the Gigahut 2.0 after his circular wood pile up north.
There were also several large rocks stuck near perfectly vertical into another pile of smaller (but still large) rocks. Laci and I decided that if we could travel with Doctor Who we’d want to come back here and observe how these were made.
From there we went to the city of Cadaques, Salvador Dalí’s hometown and a magnificent seaside city. Its near exclusivity to pedestrians and steep slopes reminded us of Piran, Slovenia, and for me at least, of the movie Luca. We didn’t do much here: Tickets to Dalí’s home were sold out by the time we looked, and it was pretty late to be doing more activities anyway. So we laid on the beach, had a nice dinner, and just took in the improbably narrow streets and smells of the sea.
The drive was as much a part of this adventure today, too. It’s a magnificent stretch of mountain highway, cresting over a pass (col) at almost exactly 1,000 feet above sea level. If you’re not comfortable with narrow roads, take it slow or take a bus. It’s worth it to get there however you do.
