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| The origins of the thousand-year-old Castell d'Orriols' tower can be traced back to the XII century. It is a space that is packed with legends and history, including chambers where Napoleon was received during his stay in Spain, that are, today, frequented by celebrities, artists, aristocrats and gourmets, to name just a few of its guests. All in all, the Castell d'Orriols is a unique space for contemporary Ulysses. | |||
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It is not the same to speak of L'Odissea de l'Empordà as it is
to speak of the odyssey in the Empordà region, yet in
this case, the two meanings complement one another. What was once Antonio
Ferrer's great restaurant in the Barcelona of the new democracy, on its
way to being the Olympic city, now re-opens in the Castell d'Orriols,
in the Alt Empordà region. Simultaneously, it furthers Antonio
Ferrer's odyssey, by creating a centre of gastronomic irradiation, while
offering a resting place along one of Europe's most privileged routes:
this Empordá landscape "sowed with humanity", as Pla,
the classic, would write.
The traveller who makes pilgrimage to one of Catalonia's best restaurants, can now find chambers in which to rest after the lunch-time conversation, or spend the night, or several days, in between nothingness and infinity, just a stone's throw from the delights of the Costa Brava, inland Empordà, and the French border. One has but to descend a few steps in order to enter Ferrer's gastronomic paradise, or cross the threshold of the castle's great gate to take in the immensity of the engulfing landscape. The castle's scope is a welcoming fortress for the arrival of any touring Ulysses. The pleasure of escape, of feasting, of rest, of gazing and of remembrance is at close reach. Without moving from the Castell d'Orriols and
its hearth, one can obey the metaphorical command: "read until
nightfall and, in winter, travel south" |
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