Today’s destination was the Fundacion Joan Miro on Montjuic Hill. To get there we rode the bus to the Paral-lel station and took the Funicular up the hill. The museum was a short walk from the station.
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Miro was born in Barcelona in 1893 and although he spent time in Paris, had a studio and home on Palma de Mallorca, and loved countryside around Tarragona he always-considered Barcelona his home. The Foundation has a very comprehensive collection of his work.
About ten minutes into the audio tour Harry sat down beside me and said “I just remembered I don’t like Miro’s work”. He actually meant he didn’t like Miro’s early work. So as we proceeded through the collection, which is arranged chronologically we both found many more pieces to our liking. I was, of course, particularly draw to the black and red images and we both liked the later paintings, tapestries and sculptures that use primary colors and textures.
The Museum also had a lovely minimalist café with really comfortable chairs, helpful staff; a shop stocked with Miro images and quirky design items. Its size is not overwhelming and the number of the people in the galleries quite manageable.
We had another wonderful tapas dinner tonight at La Castanya. It was just a 5-minute walk away. I searched around on Trip Advisor until I found something in the general neighborhood that had good reviews and was reasonably priced. When we arrived at 8pm the place was empty. When we left several other tables were occupied and the scene out on the streets was like it was 12 noon. The plaza’s we walked through were just abuzz with people. Only the catalan can take a simple slice of crusty bread, toast it, rub it with garlic and a halved tomato and then drizzled with olive oil and coarse salt. Pan I Tomato. Heavily. Then there was the Caprese Salad. Small tomatoes cut in eighths, golf ball sized fresh mozzarella (like no mozzarella you have ever tasted), and basil made with a culinary siphon so that it resembled a very airy green sponge, with a sauce that was like a creamy gazpacho. Oh my! There was much more but you get the idea.
About ten minutes into the audio tour Harry sat down beside me and said “I just remembered I don’t like Miro’s work”. He actually meant he didn’t like Miro’s early work. So as we proceeded through the collection, which is arranged chronologically we both found many more pieces to our liking. I was, of course, particularly draw to the black and red images and we both liked the later paintings, tapestries and sculptures that use primary colors and textures.
The Museum also had a lovely minimalist café with really comfortable chairs, helpful staff; a shop stocked with Miro images and quirky design items. Its size is not overwhelming and the number of the people in the galleries quite manageable.
We had another wonderful tapas dinner tonight at La Castanya. It was just a 5-minute walk away. I searched around on Trip Advisor until I found something in the general neighborhood that had good reviews and was reasonably priced. When we arrived at 8pm the place was empty. When we left several other tables were occupied and the scene out on the streets was like it was 12 noon. The plaza’s we walked through were just abuzz with people. Only the catalan can take a simple slice of crusty bread, toast it, rub it with garlic and a halved tomato and then drizzled with olive oil and coarse salt. Pan I Tomato. Heavily. Then there was the Caprese Salad. Small tomatoes cut in eighths, golf ball sized fresh mozzarella (like no mozzarella you have ever tasted), and basil made with a culinary siphon so that it resembled a very airy green sponge, with a sauce that was like a creamy gazpacho. Oh my! There was much more but you get the idea.