The photo of the original kitchen. It was here that the corn meal was cooked and made into tortillas.
In a muddy four-wheel-drive truck we bumped and bounced our way up narrow dirt tracks to a series of rolling vineyards that hung heavy with ripe bunches of grapes. Terracotta rooftops and the glowing Cantabrian sea provided a dramatic backdrop as rosy-cheeked men hurled crates of grapes into the back of a tractor trailer. This really was the most beautiful vineyard I’ve ever seen.
Importantly, as with almost all of Gaudí’s houses, elements of the design are personalised to celebrate the owner’s personal interests. In this case, El Capricho hints at Máximo Díaz de Quijano’s love of music, with wrought iron balconies that resemble musical staves and notes, a number of music rooms and windows fitted with bells that “sing” when they are opened or closed. Don’t miss the little rooftop terrace, which is accessible via a claustrophobia-inducing spiralling staircase.
A wealth of bars, restaurants and little shops hawking all sorts of bric-à-brac make for a thoroughly pleasurable day of wandering and perusing, but what I really enjoyed was simply parking myself on a bench and indulging in a spot of world-class people watching. On my particular visit to the town a magic show had taken over, which meant the streets had been commandeered by swarms of local children.