Today was interesting. We set off to Figueres and spent the morning looking at the sights, shopping and drinking coffee. First of all we came across a garage with a most unusual style of working. The cars are balanced somewhat precariously on a metal scissor elevator and the engineer works from a wooden ladder!

Next up was was the old herbalist shop that has been here since 1981, still selling beauty and diet products and giving advice on any health issue you may care to consult them about. We walked on to some of Dali’s statues and tributes, including an amazing trompe l’œil of Dali’s face.

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We left the town and drove back to Empuria where we stopped at Capitans for lunch. Sitting next to us was a French couple and they had a basket of what looked like Cep mushrooms. I asked the guy where he had bought them and he said he got them from a local man (actually a fisherman who was also an expert in foraging for rare mushrooms) and he was waiting for some more. Within a few minutes, back came the fisherman with another basket of fungi, the like of which I have never seen before.

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He explained to us the different types but apparently the most rare was the Amanita Caesera (the orange one in the photo). The amanita is the same genus as some of the most toxic mushrooms in the world. The Caesera was named after the Roman emperors, who were very fond of this mushroom. So fond in fact, that Claudius was poisoned by his wife, who mixed the mushrooms with a similar coloured poisonous one. Needless to say, we thanked the forager profusely when he offered us some, but declined to buy them.

Buen apetito