Spain Part 3
In Sos del Rey Catolico, a town of 600, we were woken up by a bolt of lightning and a clap of thunder hitting so close to our room that it sounded like a gunshot going off in the closet. This was followed by a downpour that sounded as if it were meant to re-create the four oceans. 7 o'clock the next morning, in front of our window we hear an accordion accompanying a group of children singing a single chorus in three four time and in a minor key. An odd combination when you think of it. Then they disappeared as completely as the previous night's storm...the prelude to our rendezvous with Salvador Dali??
From Sos del Rey, we traveled to the Pyrenees town of Urgell (which, for good reason, we will skip – and wish that in reality we had skipped: "what a dump!"), then off to Monells, a town of only 200 people, which was magical.
From there our trip became much more surrealistic as we headed into Dali land. Dali's home in Portlligat and his museum in Figueres served as a befitting gateway to Barcelona. As our host in Monells explained to us, while the Spanish were busy conquering lands, the Catalans were too busy having fun.
And, Barcelona has been the most fun city on this trip.
Gaudi probably personifies just how much fun Barcelona must have been for architects at the turn of the 20th century. The city is full of whimsical creations that appear unexpectedly when you turn a corner. Even before the modernists, you get the feeling that the architects who built this city were always exhibiting a kind of playfulness in their styles.
We are now in the airport waiting to board our flight to Casablanca with 2 1/2 weeks left to explore Morocco and then home sweet home...
Alas, we are now without cell phone (yes, it's true what they say about pickpockets in Barcelona).
A rooftop on Salvador Dali's private home in Portlligat, near Figueres
Salvador Dali's backyard
A night at the theater in Barcelona.
Inside Gaudi's trippy La Sagrada Familia with Jesus flying in on a grape covered parachute over the altar.
Smoke stacks on a 1910 Gaudi apartment building...the prototype for Darth Vader?
And, finally, Barcelona pays homage to the vibrator.