Part 62: Is that a… uh?? Jan 5, 2013

On my last day in Spain I hopped the train for Figueres so I could visit the Dali Theatre Museum.  I have been a huge Dali fan for a long time and have seen several of his works including those at the Dali museum in St. Petersburg, FL (weird place for a Dali museum, yes, but it has the largest collection of his works outside of Figueres).  I was really excited. 

I got to Figueres map free and just decided to wing it.  Luckily, since the museum is basically the only attraction in the town, there are a lot of signs.  I got to the museum before it opened, so I had a sandwich for breakfast before buying my ticket and heading inside. 

 

The museum is found inside an old theatre and a medieval tower that Dali bought and converted first into his home, then into his museum.  The tower is from the 16^th century and is the last remaining part of the town’s fortress.  It obviously looks much different now as it is painted sort of a pinkish color and has giant eggs on the top.

 

Inside is the largest collection of Dali’s artwork, including the Mae West room (the furniture looks like her face), several sculptures, and the jewelry he designed.  It also shows his personal art collection including paintings by El Greco and an exhibition by Dali’s friend  Antoni Pitxot (he likes to draw people made of boulders). 

The jewl collection was spectacular.  It included a beating heart made of rubies, an elephant with long legs, a dolphin, and so many other sparkly things. 

 

Lastly, if you ever get to go, don’t forget to pay your respects.  Dali is buried in a crypt in the basement of the museum. 

Part 61: Barcelona!! (continued again) Jan 2-4, 2013

Day 3:  Barcel-loooooonaaa!!!

On my last day in Barcelona, I stopped off a the mall in the harbor to buy a new memory card for my camera (it was a prolific trip) before walking up to the top of a giant hill to visit Castell de Montjuic.  The castle is free and if you walk around the grouds you can get some great views of the city and the sea. 

From there I andered around the Olympic park and visited the Olympic stadium.  The stadium is free to visit and has a nice little exhibition on its history. It was originally built in 1927 in an attempt to get the 1936 olympics, but that did not pan out.  It was renovated for the 1992 Olympics. 

I got back down to the city by going down many, many stairs in front of the national Art Museum.  This took me by some amazing fountains, however, none of them were working (more on those later).   My last main site in Barcelona was the Palau de la Música Catalana, another modernist building made by Lluís Domènech i Montaner.  It was spectacular (and for what they charge for the tour, it better be).  The interior of the theatre is full of windows and a giant stain glass inverted dome.  They also have the computer play the organ for you so you can experience the acoustics.  It was amazing.

The day was pretty much done and most things were closed except for the Muhba Placa Del Rei.  This museum covers the history of Barcelona by taking down in an elevator through time to the Roman archeological site and the medieval palace above it.  They also had an exhibit on how calico is made (which I had never actually thought about before and it's really cool) and a small exhibition on the history of film.   

That evening, I walked back over to Font Magica de Montjuic.  This fountain, which had been off when I walked by it earlier does a Belagio style show in the evenings.  It is impressive.  It was designed for the Olympics and one of the main songs is the theme song from the games (hence the title of this post).  It also did some Christmas songs since I was there during the holidays.  I stayed for probably more than an hour before heading off to bed. 

 

Part 61: Barcelona!! (continued) Jan 2-4, 2013

Day 2:  All Modernism, All the time. 

I love modernist architecture and I really love Anton Gaudi (refer back to the aforementioned 10^th grade Spanish project), so my second day in Barcelona was dedicated exclusively to these to subjects.  And a little bit to getting lost, but that is because the city named the metro stop I needed was named La Segrada and I accidently got off at La Segrera.  Anyway, my metro error allowed me to walk passed Hospital de Sant Pau, designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner.  Montaner, while less famous than Gaudi, was really the originator of modernist style. 

 

I finally walked passed some more Gaudi lampposts and found myself standing in front of La Sagrada Familia.  Unfortunately, since I got off at the wrong metro stop, I was not their right when it opened as originally planned, so I had to stand in a giant line.  It was worth it.  The cathedral is amazing!  So many colors and interesting things going on.  The columns were inspired by trees and there are few straight lines anywhere.  The choir galleries along the sides are 50 ft high and hold approximately 1000 singers.  The highest point inside is 148 ft.  There is also a museum giving the history of the church’s construction that shows off many models made by Gaudi and other architects that worked on the project, which should be completed in 2026. 

After spending at least 2 hours at La Segrada, I walked down the road to take a look at Casa Milà (1912) and its many chimneys and odd façade.  They make you pay through the nose to tour these buildings, I decided to only go inside Casa Batlló.  However, I sort of wish I had paid for both as the inside of Casa Milà  is also amazing. 

Casa Batlló (1904) is located just a few blocks further down the street and the outside is beautiful.  The outside is very colorful and was designed to look like St. George killing a dragon (the dragon’s ribs are seen as the attic arches and the tail finishes up at on the bottom floor stair case).  Some also think it looks like skulls and other bones on the front (in a non creepy way) or Mardi Gras masks.  Whatever symbols there are, I would love to live there. 

click here to watch a multimedia show from the house (and excuse my poor camera work) 

 

My last stop on Day 2 was Park Güell (1914).  It was also designed by Gaudi and is the location of the famous mosaic iguana that has come to represent Gaudi and the city of Barcelona.  The park has structures that resemble birds’ nests, two small buildings to mark the entrance, columns and sea-serpent shaped benches, and a great view of the city. 

On my way back to my hostel I tried to stop and see Casa Vicens.  It is a privately owned Gaudi home, so you can only see the outside anyway.  Unfortunately, it was dark and there was not a lot of light around it so I didn’t see that much.  The home was for sale in 2007 for 27 million euros.  Looks like I will have to change my career in order to actually live in a Guadi creation with a fence of palm leaves. 

 

Part 61: Barcelona!! Jan 2-4, 2013

Day 1:  Old Barcelona (mostly)

I got off the night train looking just lovely and dropped my bag off at my hostel (which did not have free luggage storage.  Apparently I did not pay close enough attention when I booked it).  I got there just in time for the free walking tour.  We headed to the entrance to the old town and took a moment to look at the ugly Barcelona College of Architects building.  It was built while Spain was under dictator Franco’s control and he apparently wanted Picasso to decorate the building.  However, Picasso was less than thrilled and ended up transferring a doodle he done on a napkin onto the building. 

We passed through the gate and into the medieval city walls, which are still visible in some places. From there we wandered our way through the old town.  First we stopped near a school in a small courtyard.  The school front was very damaged from the Spanish Civil War and apparently when the students are outside, they try to hit tourists with soccer balls (more points for a shot to the head, naturally).   This same courtyard was also used in the film Vicky Christina Barcelona, but I haven’t seen it, so I can’t tell you much more than that. 

We stopped to check out the wall of a palace made from Jewish tombstones before looking at gargoyles and a carving of Wilfred the Hairy (and yes, his carving is very hairy) on the sides of Barcelona’s cathedral.  Then, we turned onto a narrow street named Saint Eulalia’s Descent.  After refusing to recant her Christian beliefs, the Romans tortured the 13 year old girl 13 different ways including putting her into a barrel with knives stuck into it and rolling her down that narrow street.  Anyway, in true saintly fashion, she survived all tortures until she was decapitated and a dove flew out of her neck.  Nearby is the entrance to one of the oldest synagogues in Europe and columns of a Roman temple. 

Also included on our tour was Picasso’s art school (now closed) and Placa George Orwell with its tuberculosis inspired monument.  We also stopped in Placa Reial with its lamp post designed by Guadi who is the main reason I wanted to go to Barcelona to begin with.  It all started with a 10^th grade Spanish project. 

Once the tour ended, I headed out to explore some more on my own.  I passed under the Arc de Triomf (built in 1888) and walked down towards the Parc de la Ciutadela.  I passed by some interesting buildings and sculptures, but I was mainly interested in the fountain.  When the Cascada was first opened in 1881, it did not have much going on in the fancy sculpture department.  Thank goodness they amended that.  Over the next 6 years it was transformed into one of the most amazing fountains I have ever seen.   

From there, I meandered down towards Barcelona Harbor passed El Cap de Barcelona, surrealist sculpture created for the Barcelona Olympics.  I also passed a giant lobster before goint to Port Vell, which is basically a giant shopping mall built on a pier.  However, it does have nice views of the harbor. 

My last stop of the day was Barcelona Cathedral.  It is a gothic cathedral and since I was their at night, the vaulted ceiling was amazing.  It was built from the 1200’s to the 1400’s and holds the tomb of St. Eulalia.  It also has a courtyard containing geese, but you had to buy a ticket to see them, so I passed.