Last weekend (AKA three days ago) I had a weekend trip with my program to Figueres, Cadaqués, and Girona! Why, you may ask? Figueres is where the Salvador Dalí museum is, Cadaqués is where his beach house and gardens are, and Girona was just a cool city that we spent the night/next day in. They're a few hours north of Barcelona. I was surprised when I found this out because for some reason, I thought it was south. In fact, they're so north that some of my program members' phones started roaming for data because they thought they were in France. I think Perpignan is the closest French city.
We had to get up at 7 AM which is basically the crack of dawn for me and meet at Plaça de Catalunya to get on the bus. Thankfully, it was a nice big coach bus so everyone had a few rows to themselves, and I passed out as soon as we left the city. About two hours later, we arrived in Figueres and we all got breakfast.
One of the things I still haven't adjusted to (and I never will) is the fact that people don't really do breakfast here. You drink some coffee and eat a little pastry and that's it. I need bacon and eggs and fruit! But this was still good.
The first thing you see when you enter the Dalí museum. They reminded me of the Oscars awards.
Interesting...
This painting was really cool because when you're looking at it in person, all you see is a naked woman and it's as if you're looking at her through a keyhole. But then you take a picture of it and look at the picture and suddenly see that it's Abraham Lincoln! I was so mindblown when I noticed it.
You had to get in line to go up the stairs onto this platform for this vantage point.
This was so creepy!!
I always thought artists who do stippled paintings have all the patience (and skill) in the world. There is no way I would be able to do that. I don't have time for that!!
These were the things where the painting doesn't really make sense and looks really abstract, but then you put a reflective bottle on it and you can see an image in the reflection.
After the main Dalí museum building, we went into the jewelry museum. I didn't know he did these! They're sculptures that he made out of jewels and metal and other materials, and I've never seen anything like it. I usually don't really care about jewels and jewelry and all that, but this was amazing.
This was one of my favorites. I love that he used pearls for teeth. Ha ha, get it, pearly whites?
I wonder how he got the money to buy all of the materials for this... I'm guessing he did these after he got famous and rich.
Another one of my favorites.
This is what the museum looked like on the outside. I don't know why, but he was really obsessed with eggs...
I literally took this picture as we were speeding away from it on the bus, so forgive the window glare and any possible blurriness!
I fell asleep and woke up to this.
This was the only parking lot in the whole city, that's how small it was...
I had no idea how beautiful it was going to be!
I look like I have no hair lol, but it was in a single braid.
These tapas were soooooo good... I love me some seafood.
We hopped back on the bus and took about a 20 minute ride further into the mountains to get to Dalí's house. Apparently he lived here with his wife for about 53 years and then abandoned it when she passed away because he couldn't bear to live there without her anymore. Aw.
This was in the beginning of the garden tour, which was AWESOME. It was all so funky and weird and unique. I think i love the floor the most.
Nice Catalan flag pillows. I didn't know that he was Catalan! Everything that was in the gardens and house was put there for a specific reason. It wasn't like he just thought it was a nice color or he needed some new pillows. Everything about his life was meticulously planned.
SO CREEPYYYYY
Lina and I thought this was hilarious. There's actually a small hole on the bottom so you can crawl under it to get inside the egg. I JUST barely made it under, I had to crouch super low and also try not to get my knees muddy.
What a view. So peaceful!
I took this while we were waiting to be led inside his house for the tour. They only allow one group inside at a time, and they're SUPER strict about being on time. If you're late to your agreed tour time, they will sell your tickets to someone else and you don't get a refund! They also make you leave all your belongings in the coat room because there's so many things that can be knocked over and they don't want you bringing your bulky backpacks and coats and stuff inside.
Yes, this is a real polar bear. And I touched it! I don't think I was supposed to, though...
The house was more... modern than I imagined. I mean, this isn't exactly modern in terms of today's terms, but I didn't realize that Dalí died pretty recently. I think he died in the 1980's? He's one of the lucky few artists that was able to enjoy his wealth and fame before passing away. I mean, look at his house and gardens! Most artists die before they make it big, and then their children and grandchildren reap the benefits. I thought it was also cool that he personally designed the museum in Figueres, so even the museum itself is a work of art.
His art studio, with two originals. This is where he actually painted!!!! The picture doesn't do it justice, but the view out the window was awesome. I can only hope to have a studio like this in my house someday.
Okay, do you see that little box thing on the wall? Apparently he loved the sound of crickets, so he would catch them and them put them into that cage so he could listen to them. If that's not the weirdest/cutest thing ever, I don't know what is.
I thought this was strange. He and his wife slept in separate beds, but in the same room...? I mean, no judgment though.
After the tour, we got back on the bus and went to Girona to stay the night and then have the tour around the city the next day. As soon as we got there, we were starving so we went to La Tagliatella for dinner. It was seriously some of the best pasta I've ever had, and well worth the 45 minute wait.
We were in luck, because that night was some kind of festival in Girona and there were lanterns all around the city. Unfortunately they were lit while we were waiting for dinner so we didn't get to see all of it, but what we got to see was beautiful!
This is the same river, but the next morning (obviously haha).
It was pretty dead, but small Spanish cities are always like this on Sundays. Even in Barcelona, everything on our street is closed, so good luck trying to buy anything you need...
I thought this was funny because I found out that every decently sized city in Spain has a "Rambla", but this one was still tiny compared to La Rambla in Barcelona.
This is a little statue of a vampire that's on one of the walls in the Rambla. Our tour guide told us that a lot of couples fall in love on this street because this is where they meet up to hang out and walk around and get to know each other, and if you meet up near this vampire or something it'll help you two fall in love. Awww.
A very old map of Paris on the ceiling of one of the streets.
Okay, I'm an idiot, I TOTALLY knew that Game of Thrones had filmed in Girona about a month ago. I saw it on Reddit! But I completely forgot and then the tour guide was like "Oh yeah, Game of Thrones was here very recently to film-" and I just gasped so loud and was like "OH YEAH!!!!! I FORGOT!!!" And everyone just looked at me... but yeah, if you couldn't tell already, I was pretty excited.
This is the cathedral where they filmed a big scene, and I flipped out when we got to it. I took so many pictures, I'm pretty sure the tour guide hated me, but whatever.
Apparently these were on fire the night before, too. I'm bummed I missed it! I'm sure it was really awesome.
They shot a marketplace scene here. JUST WAIT, Season 6 is gonna come out and I'll be like "I WAS THERE!!"
The giant figures they used in the parades for La Merce.
We made our way back to the city center after the tour because we had a lunch reservation at some restaurant. This looked a LOT like Placa Reial in Barcelona, minus the palm trees. I'm sure they have something to do with each other...
For my appetizer, I had pumpkin soup with chestnuts.
I ordered the duck and they set this down in front of me... and I was like, "I'm pretty sure this isn't duck... this is beef" so I didn't eat any of it until I was sure. And I was right haha, they took it away and brought me my actual food.
My duck with potatoes and a cranberry reduction sauce! It was so good.
For dessert I had panna cotta. It was good, but honestly, it got kind of boring after the first couple of bites haha and I gave it to someone else to finish.
I love these. They sound so beautiful! I've seen them before a couple times (not these specific people).
So if you kiss the butt of this statue, you will return to Girona one day. I'm hoping to come back here for a day trip because it was so nice! And there's really awesome food here. I wasn't expecting much from this weekend, but I had a great time.
Anyways, that's it for now. This weekend, AKA Thursday after class, I'm off to Amsterdam to FINALLY SEE DANIEL!!!! It's a long weekend for me since it's a Spanish holiday, so I'm staying extra long. There will definitely be lots and lots of pictures from this upcoming weekend.