Today (Friday) was Salvador Dali discovery day for Michelle and I. The first stop on Dali day was the Dali Museum in Figueres, about a half-hour train trip north of Girona. As I think I may have mentioned in one of my Amsterdam blog posts, I am not much of an art aficionado. This doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy art; I do, but you won’t find me hanging out in museums or galleries for hours on end. With that said, we agreed that we would have spent more time in the Dali Museum in Figueres if we had the time to spend; it was really cool.
Second stop for the day was going to be somewhere on the Costa Brava (Mediterranean). In the end we decided that we would continue with the Dali action and head to Portlligat, where the Dali house is located. To get there we took a bus from Figueres to Cadaques, which ended up taking about an hour and stopped to pick people up and drop them off in a number of places along the way including Roses. Frankly the bus ride was kind of boring, except for the stretch from Roses to Cadaques over some significant coastal mountains on pretty narrow road.
After arriving in Cadaques we walked to the Dali house in Portlligat (a couple kms) and managed to get in without the recommended reservation; only small groups can go through the house at any given time. Not a whole lot of Dali’s art here, but it was very interesting none-the-less. The house still contains furniture and other stuff that was there when he and his wife lived there. Beyond the contents of the house, its structure and location are very interesting and surely would have been a great place to live and work. Unfortunately, my photos of the Dali house don’t really do it justice. I’m not sure that the house in itself is a reason to travel here, but if you’re planning on visiting northeast Spain, it would be worth a look.
We ended up getting back to Girona around 9pm and stopped in at Zapanzar for some tasty Basque/Spanish food. Maybe we’ll get some food pics tomorrow.
Here are the photos we took while we were on our Dali journey today. A map of our little walk around Cadaques and Portlligat is also included.
A map of our little walk around Cadaques and Portlligat while visiting the Dali house. Click to see a map on the Garmin website.
A picture of a picture of Dali that was hanging in his house in Portlligat.
Passing through a nice open space in downtown Figueres on our way to the Dali Museum. Michelle thought the old dudes hanging out on the benches were cute.
Eggs! This is one of the outside walls of the Dali Museum in Figueres.
The lower portion of one of the pieces in the Dali Museum courtyard. My photos from the Dali Museum and house are not really that spectacular. If you're interested in nice photos of Dali stuff do some Internet surfing, or better yet, visit Catalunya.
Part of another exhibit in the Dali Museum. This is not quite the intended vantage point for the piece; there was a horde of school kids blocking my access to said vantage point.
Look out for the octopus!
Heading over the mountains from Roses to Cadaques on our way to the Dali house in Portlligat. We were glad that the brakes on the bus seemed to be working fine.
Looking down one of the main streets in Cadaques. Nice and sunny today, but not too warm.
Downtown Cadaques on a sunny November day.
Wow, they have boats in Portlligat. We did the finger in the water test and it became clear why nobody was swimming today.
My photos inside the Dali house didn't really turn out that well, but here is one of an unfinished piece in his studio.
More eggs at the Dali house. Michelle insisted that I get in this one.
Not a great view of it, but this piece was called 'Christ of the Rubbish'.
A view through the olive trees from one of Dali's patios. Not too shabby.
Not sure if these have a name. Let's call them 'The Heads'. This is at the Dali house again.
Michelle getting her ass kissed at the Dali house in the pool courtyard.
Another photo from the pool courtyard at the Dali house. Given Michelle's love of snakes, I'm not sure why she is looking longingly at this one.
Ohhh, I see, it's just a soft, fuzzy, toothless snake.
Looking back towards Dali's backyard and 'The Heads' while walking back to Cadaques from Portlligat.
Not much daylight left for our Dali excursion. Looking eastish from downtown Cadaques.
Streetlight in Cadaques at sunset. After this was taken, it was back on the bus to Figueres/Girona.
