We love the neighborhood our apartment is in. We are in the oldest part of the city which is about 2000 years old. The Romans occupied this area at the time the city was founded. A huge party throughout Barcelona occurred on the solstice to celebrate the shortest night of the year. Music and dancing in the square below our balcony mixed with fireworks lasted all night long. The neighbors had a fantastic barbacoa (bbq) and we couldn't resist crashing the party.
During the day Tuesday we continued to explore Barcelona including a visit to the Picasso museum. Pablo Picasso began art school in Barcelona when he was just 13 years old. His most important works were mostly created in France, however. His father worked at the art school and drove poor Pablo a little bit crazy so he left Barcelona for France. Or, on the flip side, Pablo's break away from the more classical art styles of the day into his own style may have driven his father nuts which also may have caused Pablo to leave the city. We could not take photo's inside the Picasso museum, but we were able to take a walking tour of the city and find some of his artwork at other locations around Barcelona, including a bar where the artists used to hang out together called the 4 Cats. This weekend we will see more of Picasso's work including the famous Guernica when we get to Madrid.
In the evening Tuesday we connected with Zach's friend, Pablo. Pablo was an exchange student in La Conner during the 2013-14 school year and calls Barcelona home. Zach and Pablo had a great time reconnecting.
After an all night party, we caught a few hours sleep and got on a bus to take us to the town of Figueres to visit the Salvador Dali theater and museum via a short stop in the town of Girona. Girona is about 45 kilometers north of Barcelona and Figueres is another 60 kilometers north of that.
Girona first:
The city of Girona was founded by the Romans and its old town has been preserved and contains one of the finest assemblies of historic architecture in Spain. The Gothic Cathedral of Santa Maria (11th-18th centuries) rises into the sky and is surrounded by parts of the original Roman wall built in a century BC. Girona is a city in Spain’s northeastern Catalonia region, beside the River Onyar. It’s known for its medieval architecture, walled Old Quarter (Barri Vell) and the Roman remains of the Força Vella fortress.
Figueres is situated in the north of Catalonia (Caltelonia being the region of Spain which includes Barcelona in the northeast part of Spain). The city history is closely linked to Salvador Dali. Dali was born in this city in 1904. He studies at home until 1922 when he went to Madrid to study in the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Guess what? Dali was thrown out of the school not once, but twice. NO WAY you say??? True! So he went to Paris where he hung out with other rebellious artists and painted a couple famous works including El gran masturbador (The great masturbator) and L'espectre del sex appeal (The spectrum of sex appeal), obvious signs of his special views on sex. I bought a print of one of these to give my mother. It deserves a special place in her living room.
After living in Paris, Dali lived for a time in Portugal before moving back to Figueres until his death in 1989. Dali created the Teatre-Museau Dali in 1974. I remember seeing him on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and reruns of What's my Line. I also remember my Grandad expressing his disgust at this "imbecile" which probably caused me to learn more about his work. Crazy? Genius? Freak show? Egotistical? Fun? Passionate? Yes to all and then some. Touring the museum evoked emotional responses at every turn. Sometimes laughter, sometimes disgust, sometimes a "wow" and sometimes a, "huh - what was he thinking".
Upon returning to Barcelona we connected again with Pablo for a beer and a snack before Zach went off into the night with his friend. We are happy!
Picture time!
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