Day Twentythree

Today I visited the Teatro-Museu Dalí! It's located in Dalí's home town of Figueres, two hours out of Barcelona by train.

I woke up early to half-pack my bags because I had to swap rooms at the hostel for one night. After I'd put all my stuff in my new room I headed to Fontana train station to catch a train to Diagonal, and then another train to Barcelona-Sants station.

The metro system here is excellent, which I've said already. But the staff at the stations are also excellent. At Sants station I had to buy a ticket for the regional rail line called Renfe to get to Figueres. I went up to one guy to ask him where the desk was to buy the ticket, and instead of pointing and describing, he actually walked me to the desk and told me exactly what I needed to ask for, asked about where I was going and doing and wished me a good day. So nice! So much nicer than surly Connex staff in Melbourne!

I opted to get a ticket for the regional line instead of the faster train because it was way cheaper and only took 20 minutes longer to arrive at Figueres. I was reading on the train (Game of Thrones, excellent, highly recommend it to people who love the tv show) and a man came on at Les Corts station with a guitar and began to sing. First he did "Stand By Me" and then the song from the 'One Tonne Rodeo' ad. In Melbourne I think everyone would have looked away awkwardly but on this train people joined in and danced, and everyone gave him a tip (as did I). I felt like I was in a strange fantasy world.

Looking out the window, only half an hour outside of Barcelona and there was already countryside. Past beautiful Girona it was very foresty. I didn't know Spain had forests, I was used to seeing the rough terrain past the cities in Greece. Past Camallera there was a huge field of sunflowers who were all facing the ground because it was another rare cloudy day.

The sun came out as soon as I arrived in Figueres. It only took ten minutes to walk to the museum from the train station. When I arrived (2pm on the Friday), there was a queue to buy tickets that was easily three hundred metres long. I decided to get lunch and wait for the queue to dissipate. I chose a place called Dalícatessen Cafe because I enjoy a good pun, and took fifteen minutes for a little baguette and a coffee and then decided to brave the queue. Thankfully it had receded by about a hundred metres, and it only took under an hour to get in. This may seem like a long time to wait for a museum but apparently it's absurdly fast for what usually takes up to three hours, at least that's what the people in front of me were saying. Plus it's definitely worth waiting for.

I am so glad I made the trip to Figueres for the day. The Teatro-Museu Dalí is mind-boggling. You know what kind of experience you're in for as soon as you see the bright red castle-like walls with eggs lining the roof. Entering the building after the ticket office, you see Dalí's black car which rains on the inside, with his and Gala's prized boat perched atop a column above it. Under the boat drips bright blue tears.

I explored the whole museum, and every room. The layout is pretty confusing but obviously an element of that is intentional. I saw so many of his paintings that have had an impact on me, some that I'd already seen in Melbourne but I was more than happy to see them in the flesh again. I also got to see the Dalí jewels exhibit which included his famous Pomegranate Heart and another golden heart with ruby valves inside that mechanically beat as if they were real. The entire exhibit was so moving though. Tourists everywhere were taking pictures of the paintings, but I preferred to stand back and look at them, then look at them up close, and then stand back again.

Back to Figueres train station and I only had to wait ten minutes until the train back to Barcelona. I spent the whole time reading again and staring out the window at the beautiful countryside.

I got back to Fontana at 9pm, and decided to try to visit the bookshop again. This time it was open!! I browsed for ages but didn't end up getting anything. I'm just glad my persistence to visit it actually paid off.

After I got back to my room, I started packing my things but decided to leave it until tomorrow morning because I would be more organised and less tired then. 

Tomorrow I have a free morning to pack, and then my flight to Doha leaves at 3:45pm. Back home, so sad! I love Barcelona, Gracia in particular.