I slept pretty soundly and went out to run at 6:30 am. Finding a lot of public art on our run was a good start to this day.
After a nice hotel breakfast, with bottomless cappuccinos, we set out on the metro again as a group. We were all still on high alert for pickpockets and I pity the fool who eye-balled any of my people on the metro. If I even thought you looked like you were looking for a victim, I would stare at you so hard it left imprints on your skin. We arrived at the Museu Nacional D'Art De Cataluna, an imposing structure situated on a hillside (mountain).
Of course we were there to see art, but we can't help having fun. Our first stop inside the museum was the elevator to the roof. I love this photo. It really captures Emily and Kelsy's soul.
We found ESnipes and another couple of groups on the roof with the same idea. A little palette cleanser before taking in the very large museum. ESnipes was one of our fearless trip leaders and largely responsible for planning every cool thing we did.
As I said earlier, I was just there to have fun. I did have a daily responsibility to keep my people safe but the only other thing I had to do was try to take photos to post to the department Instagram. Click, checked that off the list for the day. Back to vacation.
We found a lot of Jesus in this museum. We decided the plural form would be "Jesii".
We also found Emily in an alcove.
And David in front of an altarpiece. It was interesting to see all the different ways people view art. Just in our smaller group we had a spectrum running from Jericho, who speed walks every museum, to Katherine, who takes more of a tortoise paced approach.
It was also interesting to consider how European humans tried to make Jesus from very early on in their depictions. I call this one "Chill Jesus". He's like, "Salvation and whatever".
While I move through art viewing at a faster pace, It was obvious early on that this was going to be a marathon art day. This museum went on forever. But they had a cool cafe and we had a nice little lunch with cappuccino and this really good cake that was probably coffee flavored but I tried to pretend it was just dark chocolate. (I'm not a fan of coffee flavored things that are not coffee. Don't toy with me.)
What I am a big fan of is.....
Art. You thought I was going to say butts didn't you? Somewhere in this museum I felt myself relax when I realized this was all I had to do today. My job was to just look at art. I felt so at ease after that. I walked alone through most of the museum during the afternoon just absorbing colors, textures and compositions.
I can admit that I enjoy seeing my art celebrities. I know a lot of what I like and what I relate to and I will put those artists and works on a mental "must see" list. Since I had done very little (zero) research on this museum, I was free to just move through the exhibits and see what was there with no agenda. I found some cool things by people I've never heard of.
And of course, there were some Catalonian artists I had heard of.
After the museum, I was off to check off one of my priorities...
The Joan Miró Museum. So...funny story...we left the first museum following the iphone map with walking directions. The Miró Museum was very close but we seemed to be walking forever. The map was apparently still trying to take us on a drive so we walked most of the way around the mountain counter-clockwise instead of taking a very short walk clockwise.
There was a cool Calder outside. Calder and Miró were pals.
I loved, loved, loved the Miró Museum. I felt like the third amigo with Calder and Miró.
There were many familiar colors and images and I've never really studied Miró or his work extensively.
It was like meeting someone and realizing you have all these things in common. Very cool. I thought about this experience for much of the remainder of my time in Barcelona.
My visual intake limit had been reached for the day. My brain was full. After a couple of hours to check out the Miró, our little group elected a new map leader who promised a better path and I was happy to follow. We then retraced our long, ridiculous walk all the way back to the starting point. I laughed all the way because, what else can you do? I did realize one wrong turn the map was asking us to take and I veered away from the group to dodge that crazy long stairwell in the afternoon sun. Still, we ended up in the Poblano España early for our dinner. We took the time to get a few photos with the umbrellas. Fun fact: I hate umbrellas. I do not believe in them. I'm rain jacket guy. This photo was my message to my "team umbrella" enemies.
This little village was touristy in the way that Broadway At The Beach is touristy, but still pretty cool. There were cool things to see in the streets and we even ventured into one last gallery before going in for dinner. The kind of gallery with a handlebar mustache guy working the front desk, juggling his gallery tasks with being super judgmental all day. I kid, but for real.
Dinner was at Tablao de Carmen where we enjoyed a group dinner of tapas, sangria and flamenco dancing. It was a very cool experience. After the dinner and performance was over, we gathered outside to regroup for one last little experience for the day. I caught a glimpse of the flamenco dancers cooling off in the alley and I went over to the lady in the photo to tell her in Spanish that I enjoyed the show. I ended up hugging her for some reason and she European kissed me on the cheek. Very cool.
Highly recommended for the flamenco dancing and for the sangria!
I took actual group photos where you can see the group with the "FIESTA" letters, but this one was funnier because it is all about me. Everyone had a fun night. But...we were not finished yet...
We were still a good ride away from our hotel and right back in front of the museum was the "Magic Fountain". We missed the start time by about 30 minutes but that gave us more time to hang out and get a good spot for the show. It's essentially this huge fountain with lights and the lights and water jets are set to music in this cool aquatic choreographed thing. It was enjoyable, but once again, my attention was divided as I was on pickpocket patrol. In every public place, here, the museum steps, the beach, the sidewalk, there were vendors trying to sell crappy stuff. They'd walk by and hold something up in your face and say "Water, beer, mojitos fresh!" The assumption seemed to be that you were buying from them unless you forcefully told them "NO!" They would also slingshot these little LED helicopter things into the air and they'd fall all around you or on you. Then they'd try to sell it to you. It was pretty annoying but also confusing. I was adjusting from being a Southern American who makes eye contact and speaks or smiles to everyone they pass to being a polite traveler who did not make eye contact or speak to strangers. Yet these people were forcing me to look at them and speak to them. I basically just learned to say "NO" a lot an ignore them.
It was pretty close to 11:30 pm when Sean and I arrived back at our room to wait for Party Pat to come home.
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