Checkout out of the Hotel Arts this morning and into The Alexandra, which is perfectly located and central to everything. The room is smaller and while it lacks a bidet, it has a balcony with seating.I was able to check in early at 9am so I took a seat, looked over what I wanted to do for the day, had a cup of coffee, and enjoyed some people watching. No complaints.
I decided to take the day slowly and not do much. Two things predicated that decision. 1) My plan was to enjoy to Barcelona and not rush-rush-rush, and 2) I had a blister on my toe from the day before that was begging me not to abuse it. I heeded both calls and figured I'd walk down the Passeig de Gracia to pick up my city pass and my articket and see what I could see.
Right around the corner from the hotel is Casa Batllo, designed by Antoni Gaudi for the Batllo family. It really stands out from its neighbors both for the ticket booth outside and the unique facade it presents. Similar to the western face of Sagrada Familia (which I did not get good picture of b/c the sun was right in my lens) this also has the appearance of bones. It has a very nightmarish quality to it and reminded me of how the Xenomorphs in the Alien series design their interiors. Although it's difficult to see, the thing rimming the roof is a spine. Creepy. I was told by the locals that the admission isn't worth it, so I saved my euros and kept walking.
In this section of the city a lot of attention has been paid to public spaces and greenery. What I enjoy about this picture is the contrast of the two building on the left. A medieval building with domes right next to an early 20th century hotel or office building. This fountain, while inaccessible, decorates the street and the trees line the pedestrian walkways making for a nice stroll along the copious store fronts. Oh, speaking of store fronts. As it was Sunday, many stores were closed. Not really an issue for me as I'm not a browser but I'm sure many people from the cruise ships were disappointed.
Holly had asked me not to go down alleyways, which I'm prone to do in foreign places to see how what cities really look like, and while I'm trying to resist the temptation, I caved and took one as it was a shortcut to the Contemporary Art Museum I was heading to. I'm glad I did. I encountered a public recreation park with locals laughing, enjoying their Sunday, and playing ping pong. Notice the graffiti? I'll have a post about all that later.
The CCCB was my destination and I eventually found it. The short cut didn't exactly take me where I thought it would but no worries, Holly, I got there safely. There were two exhibits going on. One that had to do with early and experimental leaders in animation and another about digital communication. The animation one, called Metamorfosis, was awesome. There were early stop motion animation pieces from the late 20's and 30's and by a Polish animator named Ladislas Starewitch and it turns out he was the inspiration to guys like Terry Gilliam and Tim Burton, among many others. There were clips of his work and his original puppets/models. Check out this sample of his work. Incredible for its time.
There were also exhibits by other artists and stopped taking pictures after a while as I thoroughly enjoying everything. I spent about 2 hours in this gallery absorbing it all. One artist, Jan Švankmajer, who is of a school called Tactilism, creates art that utilizes common objects in different ways. There was some weird stuff in his section to be sure. This thing on the left was some sensory piece and quite frankly, a masturbation machine. Yeah, weird. When the pieces started moving it was even weirder. On the right we have a very strange chair composed of scouring brushes, cheese graters, and other things. Enjoy, my friends.
After a couple hours I began to get hungry so left to walk the distance back to my hotel. I figured I'd fund a cafe or something to get some tapas and a nice cold beer along the way. If you look up in this city, you see some really cool things. This artwork, on the side of a building. appeared to just be there for no real purpose other than to admire. The glass panes below were part of someone's house.
The walk back was peaceful. I avoided the main streets and took side streets instead. There were lots of small shops, mostly closed, that I would guess only the locals would know about. These streets reminded me a lot of Istanbul. The closely packed buildings, the architectural style, the colors, and the mood it all set took me back about 100 years or so. I was a very enjoyable walk.
At last I found a place called Mas Q Menos to rest my feet and fill my belly. Most places seem to have outdoor seating. I pulled up a chair and ordered a salami sandwich, some sardines, a large beer and enjoyed 90 minutes of relaxing, post card writing, people watching and daydreaming of spending the moment with friends. Here's to you all!
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