Visit to Picasso Museum, Park Guell and Farewell to Spain

On Thursday March 26, we took the morning train to Barcelona.  We left cloudy 7C San Sebastian and arrived in sunny 17C Barcelona at 1:30 p.m.  The six hour trip flew by.  We travelled through some beautiful countryside and stopped in a number of small interesting-looking towns.  The train is a fast one and the stops are only for a few minutes.  When we arrived in Barcelona, it almost felt like being home.  We picked up some provisions, went for a coffee at our favourite coffee shop (El Magnifico) and headed to the apartment for our appointed check-in time.  We stayed at the same apartment we had stayed at the first week of our trip.

We went around the corner to see a new temporary exhibit at the Picasso Museum entitled Picasso-Dali, Dali-Picasso.

Poster for the Exhibit

It was an interesting exhibit detailing the interplay between the two artists.  Their works with similar themes and approaches were displayed side by side.  The two men knew of each other but did not meet until 1926, when Dali visited Picasso at his studio in Paris.  Dali was impressed by Picasso's cubism work.  

Andre Breton came out with the Surrealist manifesto in 1924.  Dali was a member of the group, and while Picasso never joined, his works were seen as simpatico.

I snuck a few pictures of some of the paintings on display.

Picasso- Portrait of Olga 1917

Dali- Portrait of my Sisiter 1923/26

There were some Picasso nudes placed beside this Dali painting of bathers in 1923.

Dali -Bathers of Es Llaner  1923

Both artists were featured in art magazines in the 1920s.

Picasso

Dali

Dali-Aphrodisiac Dinner Jacket 1937 (reconstructed 1970)

Both Picasso and Dali also painted tributes to Velazquez.

Dali- Valazquez Painting the Infanta Margarita -1958 (from internet)

Picasso- Las Meninas 1957

Both men did paintings addressing the horrors of the Spanish Civil War, although after the war, Picasso remained steadfast in his opposition to the Franco regime, while Dali did not.

Dali- Sketch for the Premonition of the Civil War 1935

Picasso-Weeping Head with Handkerchief (I); Postscript of Guernica 1937

In 1947, Dali painted Portrait of Pablo Picasso in the 21st Century.  It was a bit irreverent and a bit of an hommage, reflecting the complex relationship between the two artists.

Dali- Portrait of Pablo Picasso in the 21st Century (1947)

We stopped for some treats at Casa Gispert, including some olive oil to take back to Toronto.  The store has been roasting nuts for 163 years and the provisions are excellent quality.  Our server helped us choose the oil and chocolate.

Pouring nuts at Casa Gispert

Bags of fresh nuts

163 years of roasting nuts in the wood fire oven 

The nut-roasting equipment

We spend our time after the Picasso-Dali show, wandering in our neighbourhood  (El Born) checking out the small shops, which often have workshops in them.   Beautiful jewellery, leather goods and very friendly artists and salespeople.  Alano ordered a belt, which will be ready on March 27.

Handmade wooden beads

You never know who you meet on the street

View from a narrow street in our 'hood

We had a vermouth and a plate of eggplant and honey at Bormuth, a local bar we had visited earlier in the month and then went for pintxos at Euskal Etxea, another spot near us that we had eaten at before.  We were both hungry, so I didn't take pictures of the food.  We're going to miss the flavours and grazing from tapas bar to tapas bar.  Our last pintxo had a delicious piece of a fish that isn't usually on their menu, but that was in season.

Friday March 27 was our last full day in Barcelona.  It was a spectacular day- blue sky and sunny with a high of 17C.  We started the day with a coffee at Cafes El Magnifico.  Alano got some beans to bring home.

El Magnifico- great coffee

We then picked up Alano's new belt at a wonderful store called Cuirum.  He posed with the woman who made the belt in the studio part of the shop.

We passed a number of bakeries that had Easter goodies in their windows.  These were very pretty.

Easter goodies

We took bus #24 to Parc Guell, an unfinished housing project by Antoni Gaudi done for the industrialist Eusebi Guell.  The project was to be a model community of 60 units for wealthy people, modelled after English garden cities.  Work started in 1900, but was halted in 1914.  The project never got off the ground, as there was no proper transportation to the area.  Guell died in 1918 and his heirs offered it to Barcelona City Council which took over the development and opened it as a public park in 1926.  In 1984, UNESCO declared Park Guell a Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The completed parts include some viaducts, a grand central plaza lined with a long, undulating bench decorated with ceramic fragments.  There was also a market with Doric columns.  Only two houses were ever built.  One of them, not designed by Gaudi, was where Gaudi lived from 1906 to 1926.  There is also a house that was built for the Porter between 1901-1903, which is now part of the Barcelona History museum, and an example of a modest dwelling created by Gaudi.  The other nearby building was a reception area, that now houses a gift shop.

Viaduct

Detail

City in the background

Alano under viaduct structure

Gorgeous green bird in a palm tree

View of Sagrada Familia from Park Guell

Porter's Lodge, now part of Barcelona Museum of History

Reception area- now gift shop

Another view of Porter's house

Alano in front of tiled area

Market space with 60 columns- amazing

The salamander- in Grand entrance

Getting sun on the Gaudi curved bench

Bench with two Gaudi buildings in the background

Porcelain tile

Back of tiled bench 

Bench around the large plaza

Looking up the Grand Entrance

Park Guell is a fantasy land.  It is amazing that the project was developed in 1900.   

After our visit, we decided to walk slowly back to our apartment.  Luckily it was all downhill.  We paused to buy a treat from this lovely bakery-Farina and Sons, founded in 1939.  All the bakery windows have chocolates and other Easter specialties.

Farina and Sons since 1939

Easter eggs

We also stopped at a tortilleria called Flash Flash that opened in 1970 and was the design sensation of the day.  It was recommended by a few people.  It has large pictures of Twiggy like models and is done in white with white banquettes. It serves 60 different kinds of tortillas.  Alano and I shared a piece of tortilla with aubergines.

Flash Flash

We continued our walk and passed one of my favourite Gaudi designed apartments- La Pedrera.  The light was fabulous.

La Pedrera

We also admired Gaudi's design for the sidewalk tiles on Passeig de Gracia.

Walking on the Gaudi designed tiles

We passed another beautiful building (not by Gaudi), with statues embedded on each floor.

Another beautiful building with statues

The Ramblas had a number of vendors selling Easter grasses and special decorations.

For Easter

We passed the Catedral de Barcelona, which looked amazing in the setting sun.

Night time at the Catedral

We went back to the apartment for a short rest and then headed out for dinner at Cuines Santa Caterina, located adjacent to the Santa Catarina market.  The place was buzzing.  Alano and I shared some shrimps with garlic and a large plate of fideos  (Spanish cut up noodles with squid and chorizo).

Alano at the restuarant 

Garlic Shrimps

Fideos

We got back to the apartment at around 11:15 p.m.  I finished this blog and we are packed and ready to catch our 10:15 a.m. flight on Saturday March 28 to Paris and then Toronto.

It has been a fabulous trip as well as a break from Toronto's winter woes.  We would highly recommend Spain as a vacation destination.  There are many different cities to explore each with their own personality, including unique cuisine and culture. The people are very friendly and helpful. We also gained an insight into Spain's fascinating (and sometimes dark) history.  There have been great strides since the end of the Franco dictatorship.

Thank you for joining us on our journey.