1. Park Guell- Gaudi intended the park to be an outdoor market and a "playground for the rich" (according to the guidebook), but it was bought by the city and now is basically empty except for a few stray street performers, vendors, and of course tourists. The architecture adorned with mosaics, as well as the plants and cavernous walkways, is absolutely beautiful.
2. Casa Museu Gaudi- This is a house in Park Guell where Gaudi lived during the later years of his life. The house is now a museum filled with lots of fantastical furniture designed by Gaudi.
3. Picasso Walking Tour- A guide took us on an hour and half long walking tour of some Barcelona streets where Picasso used to hang out with his buddies. We saw the Four Cats, the coffee shop where he had his first exhbition as a teenager, the apartment building where he lived with his parents, and the building where he took art lessons. Then the tour guide took us on a half-hour-long guided tour of the museum, where we saw some of Picasso's earliest works, including a self-portrait he did when he was only 15 years old (it was ridiculously good).
4. Barcelona's Contemporary Art Museum- Donnie and I saw an exhbition by Rodney Graham, featuring lots of cases for books and weird stuff in general, and one by John Baldessari, the highlights of which include an optical illusion of a chandelier and a video of the artist throwing potatoes at a gong.
General Observations:
1. Most people here know a few words of English, and I remember a few words of Spanish, so communication hasn't been difficult. Hand gestures and pointing make up the difference.
2. Locals don't serve lunch until around 2 p.m., and dinner starts around 9 p.m. Shops and museums are generally open until 8 p.m., which is awesome. Clubs don't really get started until around 1:30 or 2 a.m., which makes for some late nights and rough mornings...
3. None of the public toilets have toilet seats! And while we're on the subject, most bathrooms have timed lights, so it's a race to beat the clock or risk feeling for the toilet paper in the dark...
4. Weather has been mild, about 20-30 degrees warmer than London, which is nice. Honestly, just seeing the sun is enough to make me blissfully happy.
5. Spanish women wear very little makeup or hair products and still look gorgeous, while men seem to spend a lot more time on their look/clothes.
That's enough for now. More to come.
Hasta luego,
Rebecca
Welcome to Spain. The hours, the toilets, the weather, the hair...it's all part of how they live. Crazy place, right??
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