Visiting Catalonian Cities & Dalí: A Photo Journal

During the week I spent Cycling Through Catalonia, I explored beautiful Catalonian cities and toured Salvador Dalí's museum and home. This is a photo journal of my visits. 

Girona

I had just a few hours to explore Girona before darkness set in.
In those few hours, I ran all over the city -- up and down staircases and along narrow streets --
capturing the gorgeous city on the permanent retina of my camera.
If I had the opportunity for a re-do, I'd spend a whole day (or even two!) in Girona.

The red of the Eiffel Bridge is quiet bold against the Onyar River.

Looking down one of the steep staircases in Girona...

...and then up again at the young adults as they congregate on the steps.

Two doggies watch the world go by,
from a barred window,
beneath a Catalonian flag.

The inviting entryway to the Cathedral of Girona.

Too soon the sun began to set over the city.

The lower the sun sank,
the more the rainbow of evening colors dispersed across the sky.
Yellows and oranges and pinks and purples.
The sunset made for a truly magical experience in a truly magical city.

Pinks and blues were the final colors before the night surrendered to darkness.

Figueres 

I visited the Salvador Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figures.
(Click on the link for a virtual tour of the museum.)
The Museum, which Dalí designed, is the largest surrealistic object in the world.
It occupies the building of the former Municipal Theatre,
where Dalí had his first exhibition.

The courtyard is the first stop in the Theatre-Museum.
So recherché. (Say that ten times fast.)
So much opportunity for interpretation.

The large painting in the main hall was designed as a backdrop
for the "Labyrinth" ballet.

On another wall of the main hall hangs
this nude of Gala, Dalí's wife.
The painting is called "Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea
which at Twenty Meters Becomes the Portrait of Abraham Lincoln."

As you step further back from the painting,
Gala's figure fully melts into Lincoln's portrait.

My favorite exhibit is the Mae West Room.
The large lips are a couch, the nose is a wall furnishing, and the photos are eyes.

After climbing a set of stairs atop a camel,
you peek into a circular glass framed by a blonde wig
to see the full face of Mae West.

I enjoyed the photographs showing variations of Dalí's mustache.
Dalí was quite the character,
and his mustache was his unique signature.
Dalí claimed he could receive messages from outer space through his stache.

Admission to the Theatre-Museum included a visit to see Dalí's jewels.
Though jewelry isn't my thing, I did think this jeweled beating heart was pretty cool!

This cool Dalí statue stood in a square in the few blocks
between my hostel and the museum.

I love this foot, though I'm not sure what it means.
Dalí's art is widely open to interpretation.

This anti-racist statement was painted in numerous places
throughout Catalonia.

Roses

Though I had seen the Mediterranean in Barcelona,
my view of the Sea from Roses seemed far more mediterranean.

Cadaqués

I took a day trip to Cadaqués and Port Lligat via bus.
The walls near the Cadaqués bus station were covered with murals.
This mural made me smile.

Paintings, displayed on glass windows, are scattered through the town.
They are suspended in the forefront of the landscapes portrayed in the paintings.

As I walked along the bay, I looked down at the waters edge to see
a topless woman in a pink turban reading a book.

The iconic view of Cadaqués is captured in this airy frame.

I spy with my little eye a creature in the rock --
with a white buoy eye!

Port Lligat

"It was there (Port Lligat) that I learned to impoverish myself, 

to limit and file down my thought that it might become effective as an axe, 

where blood had the taste of blood, and honey the taste of honey." 

~ Salvador Dalí

I walked from the town of Cadaqués to Port Lligat,
Salvador Dalí's home between 1930 and 1982.
(Click on the link for a virtual tour of Dalí's home.)
As I was walking, I wondered how close I was to Dalí's home.
When I saw two heads floating above the trees, I knew I must be near.

A dilapidated bicycle chained to a tree outside Dalí's home.

The view of the Mediterranean from inside a courtyard.

This cracked egg sits atop one of the home's terraces.
As I crawled through the little opening on the side of the egg
and proceeded to pop out the top, I couldn't help but be reminded of
the late-70s/early-80s television show Mork & Mindy,
in which Robin Williams starred
as the extraterrestrial from the planet Ork.

Dalí's property is stunning.
I blissfully sat in one of these chairs
and looked out over the sea for quite awhile.

The creativity didn't stop at the walls of Dalí's home;
I was fascinated by the Dyson faucet in the restroom for tourists.

As explained by the diagram on the mirror,
to rinse with water, hold your hands beneath the center of the faucet.
To dry your hands with air,
hold your hands underneath the two "wings" of the faucet. Brilliant!

I walked down a little path leading away from Dalí's home,
perched myself against a rock at the water's edge,
and relished in the beauty of the Mediterranean.
Whereas Cadaqués was a busy tourist town, Port Lligat was quiet and peaceful.

Ah! Sarah is in her happy place.