Dali Museum – What Kelly is laughing about

When planning my time in Barcelona, I found something, booked it, and then found something else to do and booked that. Now I wish I had made a list and looked at the big picture because it’s getting hard fitting in all the things I want to do (when I picked a random time for something in the morning that could have been in the afternoon). My schedule had started to fill up when I realized I hadn’t included Dali! When I told my friend Amanda that I was going to Barcelona, she told me I HAD to go see the Dali Museum in a little town outside the city. He designed a museum dedicated to himself. It’s weird and hilarious. So I figured out that on Monday I could transfer early from my Air B&B to the hostel (coincidentally 15 minutes down the road) and book it to Figures hoping that I wouldn’t have to wait in line too long without a reservation.

A little frazzled with concern that I wouldn’t be able to do EVERYTHING, I once again found myself in a situation reminiscent of my journey to the Keukenhof. My app had directed me to the Metro Passeig de Gracia rather than the train station and there was not a train station in sight! I was surrounded by retail stores (though I made a mental note of where to find H&M as my jeans are wearing thin)! The app operates minimally without an internet connection, and after walking several large blocks trying to reach icons on my phone that turned out not to be what I wanted, I was able to find a symbol that might be the regional train sign and guide myself toward that. The good news is that I’m in a Fitbit workweek hustle with my aunt and cousins so I got a lot of steps in before any of them woke up.

I found the train station! And there was a machine with an English button! And it accepted my credit card (it didn’t in Amsterdam, or cash- I had to get savvy)! The train didn’t leave for 40 minutes so I stopped for a cappuccino and chocolate croissant in a little cafe (I could save the two peaches in my purse for the train).

My ticket told me nothing (meaning I couldn’t read anything helpful), so I found a little timetable to tell me which route I was taking and which track to get on. I rode trains all the time in Italy and vaguely remembered having a routine. I found my platform and thanked the angels for the inspiration to note what time the train arrived in Figures (2 hours later- I got the cheap regional train), what the stop before was, and what time the train would be coming back (every 1 1/2 hours).

Once in Figures, I followed the signs across the little town of adorable tourist trap cafes and shops on charming streets to find the museum in a square at the top of the hill. For those who reserved tickets ahead, there is a secret-looking metal door to enter by the side of the building that has loaves of bread on the walls and giant eggs on the roof (I couldn’t get a good shot, so if you want to see, feel free to look it up on the internet). I got in line in the square for ticket buyers and only waited in line for about 20 minutes (though the line did wrap around the block quite a bit).

Here is the statue in front of the museum:

When I saw this guy, I knew this was going to be entertaining:

First thing, I walk into this courtyard with a giant naked lady on an old car. Oh, and there’s a boat up above her.

And a bunch of golden statues that look like Academy Awards.

There are people in the car too!

On the other side of the courtyard

Pretty ceiling:

The exhibits circle the courtyard and are mostly collections of random things that wouldn’t normally go together.

I like this ceiling painting:

And in case you weren’t sure who Dali is, here is a tapestry of some of his most famous work:

Hall sculpture (a bust, an animal scull, an octopus and a statue):

Dali’s mustache got very long, so there is a whole room of portraits of him displaying different mustache expressions:

This

is supposed to be a physical space interpretation of this work of Dali’s:

You wait in a very slow moving line to climb stairs where you can see it from the intended perspective.

Oh, and there’s a bathroom on the ceiling:

I liked this sculpture (despite the spoon at the top) because I don’t think it matters which way is up. It’s base is a hippopotamus, but that part was too dark to photograph.

Oh! There’s the courtyard again

The upper galleries had a bunch of these paintings

They may not be made by Dali, but it had a little example of the muse:

Up at the top, I think that’s Dali looking down on everyone in the courtyard:

Here he is up closer:

This is a water fountain. I think it would be difficult not to get water all over your face, which made it very popular with the kids.

Outside the museum there were also sculptures of Dali’s:

On the train ride back, I faced the opposite direction and found so may cute little towns nestled into the hills! How did I miss this on the way there! I was convinced I was on an entirely different route. Some had castles on those hills, and tall apartment buildings hovering over rivers. I made note of a couple of the towns that would be fun to check out someday because they look so pretty.

Back in Barcelona on my walk home I ran across some Gaudi buildings. I think my mom and Ron Voyage toured this one– it’s more modern and people live there.