Location: Figueres & Girona, Spain
November 22, 2017
I want my museum to be a single block, a labyrinth, a great surrealist object. It will be [a] totally theatrical museum. The people who come to see it will leave with the sensation of having had a theatrical dream.
— Salvador Dalí
I have a confession to make: most of my travel decisions were made on a whim, without much thought or research. Maybe not most, but many. Ok, maybe it was about 75% of them (hello Hawaii for 6 weeks!). I often chose destinations because I recognized the city name or I vaguely remembered someone I knew had travelled there. Most of the time it worked out, sometimes, not so much. This was one of them. During my time in Barcelona, I remembered a colleague of mine telling me about a day trip to Girona she had taken while in Spain. I looked it up and saw that it wasn’t far and decided to go. During my extensive research of 30 whole minutes, info for Girona was inevitably linked to the town of Figueres, birthplace of Salvador Dali & home to his museum. Many organized day tours were available, all of which started the day in Girona and finished at the Dali museum. Being the savy traveller that I was , I decided to do the exact opposite itinerary, to ‘beat the crowds’.
So, first thing in the morning, I took the train to explore the fantastical worl of Salvador Dali. The very first glimpse of the museum, with its gigantic eggs on the roof, left me with the impression that a visit to the museum he himself designed, would be, well, surreal….
The main atrium, where visitors are greeted by golden mannequins, because, why not?
Dali’s very own Sistine Chapel?
Dali, the world’s most renowned surrealist artist created the museum himself and it contains the largest and most diverse collection of his works, the core of which was from the artist’s personal collection.
I especially loved his ‘rock paintings’ (left)
One of the rooms contained a particularly curious installation (above). I remember thinking when I walked in: cool, that couch looks like a pair of lips! And then I lined up behind another tourist to patiently wait my turn to be able to take a photo from the center of the room. As I was taking the photo, I marveled at how creative Dali was and wondered how he came up with his idea. I mean, I couch that looks like lips surrounded by other random objects? How strange! I took the photo and continued walking. It was only when I showed the below photo to friends months later that I actually realized that Dali was even more of a genius that I had ever realized (or noticed, for that matter!)
The installation of custom furniture is made to ressemble the face of Mae West, the actress.
After a very pleasant morning spent immersed in the fantastical world of Salvador Dali, it was time to return to the real world, get back on the train and head to Girona. Upon arriving, I felt quite proud of myself: there were no crowds to be seen. Yes, I had once again used my savy traveller wits and had outsmarted the average tourist. However, with every step, it become more and more evident why there were no crowds: it was siesta time! Yes, the Spanish are fierce observers of ‘la siesta’, a time when businesses shut down. For hours. Basically, Girona was closed! Argh! In all my planning or non planning as it was, I had omitted the 3 hours during the day that shops, restaurants and museums are closed down. I wasn’t feeling so smug as I walked down the deserted street, tumbleweeds passing me by.
Girona is actually a major Catalan city, with a population of over 100 000 people. I saw 7 of them.
Oh look, there’s a Girona-ite!
Four rivers converge in Giron: the rivers Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell
The Cathedral in Girona is located in the old town, on the hill of the Capuchins – it too was closed
At least I got to finish the day with a beautiful view overlooking the sleepy little ancient city, that was just starting to buzz to life again as my train was slowing chugging its way back to Barcelona.
I learned a humbling lesson that day: always check the business hours of any city you’re planning to visit!