Day 208 - The Eight Hour Bus Ride from Barcelona to Madrid

It's been a while since I've had to ride on a bus for 8 hours...I think the last time was in Turkey, but it wasn't too bad, given the conditions of the bus and the fact that it wasn't packed full. It makes such a difference if you get the whole row to yourself! We headed out at 10:30am, and made three stops along the way to Madrid, twice for food breaks, and once to pick up new passengers. I was unlucky to have to sit in front of a baby (why do they always cry and kick the seat in front of them???), but I slept much of the way there anyways.

Upon arrival in Madrid, I headed to my hostel, which was right in the center of the city near the "Sol" Metro Stop. The weather was much colder here compared to Barcelona, since it is right in the middle of Spain, where Barcelona was near the Mediterranean. I noticed a lot more Christmas spirit in the city too. Everything was lit up all around the city center. There were Christmas trees in the plazas and lights hanging through all the major streets. The cold weather added to the festive atmosphere as well. For some reason, prior to my arrival, I assumed Madrid would be less cosmopolitan than Barcelona and maybe a lot older, but walking around, those feelings definitely changed. Tomorrow, I will actually do some sightseeing.

I've only left four nights in Madrid, and secretly, I think I've been too focused on the excitement of coming back home that I might not really appreciate the city than if it were a visit in the middle or beginning of my trip. I hope I give it as much attention as I can...A friend back home said that the high of coming home wears off pretty fast...we'll see...

Day 207 - CCCB and Gaudi's La Pedrera

My last full day in Barcelona, and I just had a couple more places I wanted to check out, so I went in search of them. First, I finished the 2nd volume of the Hunger Games series of books and really needed to get the final book, so I headed to a used English bookstore, but got lost on the way in the Gracia district of Barcelona...big fail, since I clearly saw a map on the internet and also had the address with me...

Afterwards, I headed to the CCCB (Centre de Cultura Contemporania de Barcelona), which held a couple exhibitions, one being the World Press 11 photojournalism exhibition, and the other being some sort of video exhibition where two filmmakers paired up to create video "letters" to each other. The World Press exhibition was fascinating, and sometimes a little hard to view given the explicit nature of some of the stories being told through the photos. I'd seen many of the photos already when I glanced at the book sometime earlier this year, but it was still a shock to see some of them. One of them showed various Kenyan abortion pictures, where it is illegal, yet people go to doctors who perform them for 60-80 Euros in unsafe and unsanitary conditions...Another one showed some of the dead bodies from the Haiti Earthquake, and another showed the murders of Mexicans near Juarez... Not all of them were dark, but I think the more dramatic and emotional, the more likely you will win a prize...sort of like how Drama films usually win Oscars over Comedies... There was one picture that showed Couchsurfers surfing at a NYC host's place! The conditions looked a little undesirable in that picture, but it was nice to see the organization getting some good awareness in the world.

The second exhibition, called the Complete Letters, showcased about 7 different films of correspondence between 2 famous directors each (none of which I had ever heard of) through their own styles of filming. I didn't stay to watch any of them since they were so long and just appeared too random for me to understand. Maybe I would have stayed if I knew a little bit more about each of these filmmakers...

The last place on my Barcelona itinerary was to visit Gaudi's La Pedrera (or more formally called Casa Mila), which was an apartment complex that Gaudi was commissioned to build in 1906. The tour started on the rooftop terrace, where there were plenty of artistic chimney heads, stairwells, and ventilation towers. The floor was sinuous throughout the rooftop, similar to the facade of the building itself. In fact, much of the building itself was curved where we would expect rough edges.

The next part of the tour was in the attic, where there was a lot of explanation of Gaudi's life, his works throughout Barcelona, and the methods he used to create the architecture. It was noted that he graduate from the Barcelona school of architecture when he was 26... Maybe now's a great time to really do something impressionable and lasting like Gaudi. You could walk through the attic and notice the ways he used catenary arches to easily hold up the floor. It almost looked like we were walking through the skeleton of a snake. It's amazing how he used a lot of geometry in his work to figure out how to create space while also supporting the structure itself. He also was influenced a great deal by nature, fusing it into his designs. He was said to be one of the first designers to create ergonomic furniture, something that should feel natural and comfortable for humans to use. It seemed he was so far ahead of his time!

The last stop on the tour was on one of the apartment floors, where we got a sense of the way the residents lived during those times. There was a lot of open space where light could easily come in, and much of the furniture in the homes were designed by Gaudi himself, since he didn't just want to design the structure itself, but even the living space inside. It makes me want to purchase one of his chair designs...except they go for around 1,200 Euro...

An excellent way to end my visit to Barcelona. Next stop...Madrid!

La Pedrera

Couchsurfing!

World Press Photo Exhibit

La Pedrera

Day 206 - Caixaforum, MNAB, and the Fundacio Joan Miro

Another exhaustive museum day, but very enlightening to be exposed to so many varieties of art in this city!

The first museum I visited was the Caixaforum which is a free museum at all times. I believe all the art showcased is usually from the permanent collection of the Caixa Bank. There are 5 salons at the museum, which used to be an old factory, each showcasing a different exhibition. Today, only 3 of them were open for viewing. The first I visited was a collection of Impressionist art on loan from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. There was art from Renoir, Monet, Sisley, and a bunch of other artists. The second salon I visited was an exhibition on the Ballets Russes, a movement of ballet that was popular in Europe in the early 20th century. There was archived footage of some of the performances, as well as some artwork and costumes that were worn by the dancers.

I headed onto the next museum, which was nearby - the MNAC (Museu Nacional D'art de Catalunya). This museum housed an extensive collection of art ranging from Romantic to Gothic to Baroque to Modern Art. The Romantic section had huge murals on display in built-in church apses throughout the floor, along with a bunch of other religious Christian art. The Gothic section also had a lot of religious art, but more on furniture and altar pieces and less as huge murals. We saw more paintings in the Baroque and Modern sections, all in various styles that were popular throughout the decades - ranging from impressionism to neoclassicism to noucentisme to surrealism. There was one last temporary exhibition of a collection of lost camera rolls that were found in a suitcase that documented much of the Spanish Civil War. I briefly walked through this section since I was again getting restless...

Last and final museum of the day was the Fundacio Joan Miro, a wonderful exhibition solely of his art, again showing the changes in his styles throughout the years (surrealism to abstract to expressionism...), due to the changes in the artistic world, the political climate, and his own personal life. His style of art is very unique, similar to the uniqueness of Picasso, if that makes any sense. He developed a certain style of creating art that was recurrent through many of his pieces, including the use of stars, moons, sexual organs, eyes, snakes, and birds. It was pretty difficult to see some of the pictures he was drawing in his strange and abstract way, but the audio/visual guides definitely helped.

Going to three museums in one day is overload...Writing this entry was difficult because it's already so hard to retain all the information that I thought I'd remember when going through all the exhibits. It's a little frustrating, but I want to see as much as I can in my last few days here!

Caixaforum

Caixaforum - Impressionism Exhibition

MACBA - Romantic

Bartolome Bermejo -  Taules d'un retaule de Crist

Maria Fortuny - La Cicaria

Joaquim Sunyer - Les Germanes Ribas

Josep De Togores - Bust de Dona

Salvador Dali - Retrat del meu pare

Fundacio Joan Miro

Fundacio Joan Miro

Day 204 - Museo Picasso and the Fundacio Antoni Tapies

Today was Sunday, and some of the local businesses near my hostel were closed for the day since it was the holy day, but then again, a lot of businesses close on Monday as well for some reason. Seems like there are a lot of days off in both Italy and Spain!

I did a little research on some of the museums nearby, including the Museo Picasso and Gaudi's La Pedrera and Castel Batllo and found out I could get into 7 museums for 25 Euro with a special card I could purchase at the different sites. I was researching whether it would be better to purchase the card or just go to each museum individually. Included with the card were admissions to the Picasso Museum and La Pedrera, but not Castel Batllo. I also researched which of the Gaudi exhibits would be the best value. They both seemed to have great reviews, so I decided to get the card, since entrance to the Castel Batllo was a ridiculous 16.5 Euro!

I took the metro to the Arc di Triomph, where I walked under the arc and south towards the Parc de la Ciutadella. The park was filled with people taking strolls, practicing Spanish Capoeira, walking their dogs, and even being tourists taking pictures of some of the sculptures in the gardens. Is seems that the city takes great efforts to ensure that there is enough green space for the people, and I don't think there is any shortage of it after my other walks in the city thus far.

I found my way to the Museo Picasso afterwards by following the signs marked at major street intersections – one of the things I love about this city since it's easy for a tourist to get to major destinations, and if lost, a metro is not too far away in any direction to hop and and get somewhere. I tried to purchase the card, but my credit card would not work, and I've been having random trouble with the card at different places. I've been trying to save my Euros for emergencies and charge everything on my card since I am running out of cash in my checking account and in my wallet as well. I decided I'd try to purchase the card at one of the other locations, but opted to hang around the area until 3PM, when they offered free admission on Sundays.

The museum was such a delight to visit, despite the fact that it was crowded to the max with tourists on the free day. The museum houses a collection of work by the artist himself throughout the years, from his childhood until his death. There were paintings as well as sculptures and pottery on display, and the exhibition had different rooms with an explanation of what was going on in his life at the time, what gave him the inspiration to paint the subjects he chose, and why he painted in the style that he did. I never knew of any of his work besides the typical abstract style paintings everyone recognizes, but he was a very accomplished artist prior to developing his own style of art. It was funny because the first room showcased his early childhood art, where he took some influence from his artist father. They say you could tell his paintings had childlike, uneducated strokes with hints of mastery, which they assumed was him trying to emulate his father's techniques, yet after years of studying and learning what it was to have “masterful” strokes, it seems he reverted back to childlike drawings in the way he painted his abstract and cubist art, which we all know and love.

The most interesting and fun part of the exhibit was a room full of his paintings and interpretations of a single painting by Velasquez called Las Meninas. He was a huge follower of Velasquez and copied over 40 paintings of the single art piece using his own styles, each completely different than the next, but still having that “Picasso” look to each of them. He explained how a painting, while being copied, could be completely changed by a different artist if he was painting from a perspective, even slightly removed from where the original painting took place (for the viewer). With a slight change of a few inches, visibility of different people in the scene changes, and the effects of light changes, and in the end, you could come up with an entirely different scene that could be surprising to the artist himself. It was quite fascinating to see his versions of the single painting. Definitely a must-see exhibit to appreciate the genius of Pablo Picasso, who educated himself fully through the years in Spain, before deciding that he was tired of learning about art in school and seeked his own style afterwards.

Afterwards, I made my way to the MACBA (Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona) and CCCB (Centre de Cultura Contemporania de Barcelona) since these two were near each other and included in the museum pass. I thought it would be easy to navigate my way through the streets with the street signs, but it took quite a while to figure out where they were located because they were hidden from the main streets near the city center. MACBA ended up being closed today, so I went to CCCB. The museum was holding a World Press International Photographic exhibition, but there was a long line since it also had free admission on Sundays, so I decided to come back another day.

It's been a long day of walking and getting lost, and I wanted to see at least one more museum for the day before closing time, so I headed to the Eixample district to see if I could visit Gaudi's La Pedrera or the Fundacio Antoni Tapies. I stopped by Gaudi's Castel Batllo, where numerous people were there to take pictures of the building as it was lit up after dusk.

I managed to get my museum pass at the Fundacio Antoni Tapies, which included the artists own work along with a temporary exhibit called In the First Circle with a collection of works by different artists all relating to language, the voice, and sound. I didn't know too much about the artist, but he is one of the most famous Catalan artists and creates informal art, using non-artistic objects in his paintings. Basically, all I saw was a bunch of stuff together on canvases... I definitely needed an audio guide when looking at his art, but it was nearing closing time so I quickly went through the exhibit blindly. Definitely get the guide if you visit...

Tomorrow I'll head to MACBA and La Pedrera since most of the other museums are closed on Monday.

Museo Picasso

Picasso - Portrait of Jaume Sabarte's with ruff and hat

Picasso's Interpretation of Velasquez's Las Meninas

Arc di Triomph

Parc de la Ciutadella

Antoni Tapies

Ketchup Sandwich

Gaudi's Castel Battlo

Day 203 - Olympic Stadium/Museum and Monjuvic

Another day of wandering around Barcelona, except I really wanted to check out the Olympic stadium since we passed by it on our Hop On Hop Off bus tour a couple of days ago. I used the Metro to get to the Espanya stop and upon heading up the stairs to the Placa d'Espanya, I immediately saw the Arenas de Barcelona, which was a old bullfighting ring that was converted into a shopping center. What was cool was that you could take a lift up to the top and get some great views of the city, including the Venetian Towers, MNAC, and the Parc de Joan Miro.

Afterwards, I headed north towards the MNAC museum, taking in more incredible views of Barcelona. I was in the "Monjuvic" district of the city which is higher in altitude than much of the rest of the city. I went up further up until I found the old 1992 Olympic stadium. I don't remember too much of the '92 olympics, but I've always been a fan of the spirit and excitement of being an Olympic spectator, even if it's just through a television screen. It was cool to actually see the stadium where athletes from around the world marched during opening and closing ceremonies and won gold medals. Next to the stadium was an Olympic Museum, which had a good collection of Olympic memorabilia and video and photo archives.

Next to the Olympic Stadium/Museum was the Fundacion Miro and some well-maintained park space at the Park de Montjuvic where I took a stroll for a while. I was waiting for the sun to go down before heading to the Magic Fountains, where they had light and sound shows to Christmas tracks even 30 minutes. Not as powerful and eye-catching as the Bellagio fountains in Vegas or World of Color at Disney's California Adventure, but still fun to watch and remind myself that Christmas is coming!

Arenas de Barcelona

The View from the Top

Parc de Joan Miro

1992 Olympic Stadium

Olympic Museum

Magic Fountains

Day 202 - Churches and the Seaside of Barcelona

 Today was a relaxed day since I spent the early day packing and unpacking to another Hostel in the city. It had a skateboarding theme and was one of the more luxurious hostels I've been to. It reminded me of the hostel I stayed at in Penang, Malaysia.

After getting situated, I headed to the Mediterranean seaside in Barcelona, where there was an extension of the Las Ramblas pedestrian walkway out across the sea. Street sellers lined the bridge with souvenirs and fake luxury brand merchandise, and seagulls hovered closely to pedestrians, looking for someone to feed them. It was cold near the sea, but I stayed for an hour just enjoying people watching and reading a book.

I headed back up Las Ramblas, the seedy walkway lined with talented painters, newspaper stands, street artists, sidewalk restaurants, and purse snatchers (or so I've heard). Nearby was the Gothic Catedral and the Esglesia de Santa Maria del Mar, two of the city's most famous churches.

I spent the rest of the night walking through the small alleyways and seeing what I could discover in the nooks. By the end of the night, I ended back at the Arc de Triomph before heading back to the hostel.

Monument a Colom (Columbus)

Gothic Catedral

Esglesia de Santa Maria del Mar