 Salvador Dalí house in Portlligat Barcelona is without doubt the city living and breathing with Gaudí but when you think of Spain you can’t miss another great artist - Salvador Dalí and a trip to Spain won’t feel complete without paying a tribute to that man. www.salvador-dali.org/en/museums/- this website is really helpful if you are planing to visit the Dalí museums in Spain, it gives you general overview and you can book tickets all in one place, which trust me you would want to do in advance when it comes to this museums. Even in September which is considered off season, you had to book tickets at least 3 days prior. There are few museums, each located in a different city, so it is up to you how many and which you would prefer to visit. We decided to do two.  Dalí Theatre-Museum. Yes, these are eggs, you will be seeing a lot of eggs ... Dalí Theatre-Museum. This one is located in Figueres, located about hour and half away from Barcelona when traveling by car, be advised that there will be few tolls on a road and even tho most of the booths have a card reader it is a good idea to have some cash on you, one of the booths did not want take a card, for the life of us … If you don’t have a car or don’t know how to drive (like me for example) do not fear - there are plenty of other ways of getting to Figueres - busses and trains … more info you can find here - www.salvador-dali.org/en/museums/dali-theatre-museum-in-figueres/info-practica/com-arribar/  The Stage Figueres is actually Dalí’s hometown and the museum is located on a square across the church where he was baptized. As the name suggest the Theater-Museum was in fact a theater at one point and was bought by Dalí when it went out of business. It still has a stage and this theater feel, although you are not really sure who is on display here objects around you or you. Rooms are numbered, but you are encouraged not to pay attention to numbers and just get lost in a maze, which can be fun, but it took us forever to finally find an exit when we had enough exploring, so keeping track of things might be a good idea.  Courtyard Some people invest in having a tour guide, but they are such a gamble - you can have a great one, animated and entertaining or you can get stack with someone who is just going through the motions. I just kind of eavesdropped on Russian and English speaking guides - this way I found out that Dalí was actually buried in the Museum and I was standing right on top of the his grave, rather unsettling feeling. There are different attractions throughout the Theater where you can drop a coin in and you will be rewarded with a little entertainment. The main one is located in a courtyard - it’s a Cadillac and when you drop the coin it starts raining inside the car. There’s a little anecdote according to which Dalí was walking along the streets of Paris one evening when it started raining, it wasn’t long before he got soaked, but he had no money for a cab fare, so he just had to keep walking and he saw all these people passing him in there cars, laughing and smiling in the warmth and comfort of there shelter, that’s when he decided to create a car where it would rain inside…  Cadaques Second on the agenda was Salvador Dalí house in Portlligat. Port Lligat located right next door to Cadaques and that’t where we decided to camp out, the two are somewhat 15 minute walk from each other, so it really dosen’t matter that much where you stay. Figueres is 45 minute drive from Cadaques, so if you are planning on visiting both museums you can hit Museum Theater on a way to Cadaques, spend a night and then move onto the House. Again if you don’t have a car there’s a train, bus option www.salvador-dali.org/en/museums/house-salvador-dali-in-portlligat/info-practica/com-arribar/  More eggs ... With this one we tried to book in advance, but there were not tickets available on line, nevertheless the car was rented already and the hotel rooms are booked, so we decided to roll the dice and go anyways. Upon arrival to the hotel we asked the front dest woman to make a call to the museum for us and she was told that the next available tickets are only in 3 days, which would be too late. So the next morning we decided to just swing by - and we got tickets on a spot without problem, we were there at around 10.30 a.m. and the museum opens at 9.30 (opening time varies by season). You can always try your luck, but remember that, the visit is restricted to 8 people at the time in the house, which is nice, because you never feel crammed.  Inside the house There are two parts to visit - the house itself and the outside areas, olive garden, various viewing spots and pool. Your visit inside the house is somewhat timed, I think its about 10 minutes or so per area, you also have a guide who tells you a little bit about the house and can answer any questions you have, our guy was saying everything in 3 languages - Spanish, French and English. I was really impressed. Once you moved onto the outside areas you were left to your own devices - no guide, but also no timing you.  Dalí's studio. Most of his pieces were created here. As you can imagine the House is worth visiting, there’s so much to see and notice with your hungry eyes, you don’t know how to hold everything, the stuffed bear, greeting you at the front door, decorated with many little trinkets, the bird cages and tiny cricket cages (who has cricket cages, besides Chinese cab drivers ?), the Mirror on a wall, located at the exact spot so he could see the sunrise right in his bed, Gala’s private room with incredible acoustic - the list goes one and on. It is a funny thing describing a Museum, describing a surreal museum is twice as funny and describing the house of Salvador Dalí, well it is something else all together, so I would just post more pictures for you and leave it at that.  Greeter Bear The place is definitely worth seeing, I was so happy we actually managed to get in and the whole experience was just so overwhelmingly magical, I couldn’t stop twirling around and jumping up and down, which ended up with me dropping and smashing my phone mercilessly, so some of the photos you’ll see are shot on a smashed up phone - hope you still enjoy :)  Pool area Few thoughts about Cadaques. Even if your main purpose is seeing the Dalí museum you still might wanna spend a night or two in here. The place is small and charming with all the ships in the marina and lots of cute restaurants, tiny roads and flowers adorned walls. There is not much going on at this place, but this was exactly a change of pace needed after the non stop moving and walking and all-around hopping we did in Barcelona. There was nowhere to rush, nowhere to run to and it was nice, so Cadaques makes a great relax after Barcelona spot. Perfect for a vacation in Spain combination... Happy venturing into surrealism <3 Dinara  Entrence to the Theater Museum. Carbs everywhere, people on a facade are holding baguettes  Overlooking courtyard  Inside the Museum Theater  Inside the Museum  You can see these rocks in olive garden by the House in Portlligat   Outside the house at Portlligat  Eggs...  More eggs ...  and some more eggs  View from the house. Almost every room had a window, the whole place had a very light, airy feel to it  Courtyard view  Top of the garden  Pool area  Cadaques vibes  Blending in with the surroundings  Sunbathing, because there's no beach ...  Slight doors obsession  Happy Dalí  Sleepy Dalí
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 Talking to the sea Spain. In the long list of places I dreamed of visiting Spain was one of the firsts. I remember being in school and seeing Sagrada Familia in one of the traveling shows, back then in my tiny hometown in a far, remote and snow covered part of Russia, Spain and Barcelona and Gaudí creations seemed so impossible and unreachable, so the desire to see it all with my own eyes existed inside of me, but in a very faint way… like the thing that might never happen, something you are hoping for, but never truly allow yourself to give into. Later on, when I was already living in NYC and after traveling for a while, world no longer felt like a stranger to me, many things that seemed impossible before were now a reality to me, yet Spain, although no longer an unattainable dream, still would not come thru, even tho most of my model friends ended up traveling there for work, it just never happened to me that way and it still was a tiny dream, carefully tacked away in my heart. Years passed by “Vicky, Christina, Barcelona” came on the big screen and this might be cheesy, but it gave me a new wave of desire to visit the city that was always there on a back of my mind. I could feel the warm breeze of a lazy evening on my skin, I could practically hear the Spanish guitar, I already loved the city I have never been too. Few more years passed by and finally I made it to Spain.  Perfect day in Barcelona Now in a frenzy of excitement I totally ignored doing my research before going to Barcelona and just assumed that Uber or Lyft or some kind of similar service would be available there, years of living in NYC spoiled me into believing that everything will be accessible everywhere 24/7. So upon arrival I was greeted with the unpleasant surprise, none of the car services I am trained to relay on were at my disposal. So I scattered and downloaded myTaxi app, which was a challenge in itself, with the unreliable airport wifi, some 30 min later, I finally managed to call a car, only to realize when it finally arrived, that it was from the same taxi company, cars from which were lining outside of Arrivals exit this whole time … Big mistake, don’t be like me. Later I learned about buses that run from airport to Plaça Espanya and Plaça Catalunya, which provide much cheaper alternative - https://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/airport/transport/barcelona-airport-bus-aerobus.html  Catching wind in my pants on Plaça Catalunya The thing about Barcelona is that there’s so much to see and do that you find yourself constantly on a run, walking and walking around and then walking some more, so comfortable shoes are a must. My phone was alerting me with “new steps record” notifications nearly every day, which came in handy considering tones of carbs I consumed that week. May be I was doing something wrong, but somehow I found it that in Barcelona you are constantly surrounded by one or other form of carbs, weather freshly backed bread paired with amazing olive oil, or toasted bread with some kind of topping, which makes tapas for 5 euros a pop, or bread sticks or pasta or pizza or rice in paella … Somehow I couldn’t escape the festival of cabs and cured meats … and well, I guess I didn’t mind it … but the 25 000 + steps a day gave me comfort and eased my guilt. I don’t want to say that all the restaurants are carb oriented, I’ve heard of a popular health restaurant “Flax and Kale” for example, I just never made it there. And there was one more place that stood out to me, the sea food place - La Paradeta http://www.laparadeta.com/en/. It is simply amazing, the freshest sea food possible, it’s arranged in a market style, you chose the sea food you like, choose the way you want it to be prepared and pay for the weight of things. Everything is heavenly delicious… everything is grilled, sautéed, steamed to perfection to crisp, bold, flavors… One of the best meals I had in Spain and one of the best sea food experiences ever, the place is quite popular and line start forming half an hour before opening and although it moves pretty quickly, line never stops, theres always people outside, so I would suggest coming early, also check the website or google for opening times, it works only certain hours a day and it is usually closed on Mondays - FYI.  Speaking of things being closed - all the grocery shops are closed on Sunday, that’s the way Europe is and its something to keep in mind, although worst comes to worst there’s lots of small bodega shops with bare essentials open late and 7 days a week. Many museums are closed on Mondays as well, something to pay attention to. Another thing to watch out when considering visit to a museum - lines, standing in line turned out to be inevitable - weather in line for a popular tapas place on a saturday eve, or hip restaurant or a museum, somehow you always find yourself standing in line. If you want to cut down line standing to a minimum I would suggest booking a ticket on line. Most of the activities you can book a ticket to with designated time, which makes visit pleasant and hassle free.  Park Güell In high demand things like: Park Güell - https://www.parkguell.cat/en/. Ticket 7 euro I walked for oven an hour, most of the time uphill, only to find out that tickets were sold out for that day, pretty disappointed I was happy to learn that there was a free of charge part of the park, where you can roam around freely, which I ended up doing and enjoying thoroughly. So consider getting tickets on line, to avoid disappointment, it is worth noting that at the moment Nature Square in park is under construction, so there’s a big hole right in a middle of admission covered part of the park.  Sagrada Familia Sagrada Familia - http://www.sagradafamilia.org/en/. Ticket 15 euro Do book tickets on line for this one, you would not regret it. It is the same price, as if you were doing it on a spot, but you won’t have to stay in line, tickets are timed, so you will know exactly when to come there plus, I think they monitor the amount of people allowed inside so do not worry about feeling crammed. Now I know that many people, tourists and visitors have Sagrada as a kind of staple thing, run pass it, take a quick shot outside, cross it of the list and be done with that. I urge you to go inside. It is simply magnificent … I didn’t look at any pictures from inside the cathedral, so the impression was that much stronger when I walked in. Tickets we got were for 5 p.m. and I think it was the perfect time of the day to see it. The sun was at the angle that let the light in through red and orange side of the glass wall (vitrage), it looked like the whole place was bathed in this golden honey light, making you feel warm and comforted… Snow white beams, shooting up, joining at the celling in a intricate pattern, light pods, that looked like something out of space ship, the whole place is amazing and it is overwhelming to think that it was designed all this years ago and to think of a mind who conceived it… I even shed a secret tear of joy, luckily everyone was too busy taking pictures and staring at the phone, so none noticed it… I stood in bewilderment - I am finally here and it is better then I could ever imagine it to be.  Under the sea feelings at Casa Batllo Casa Batllo. - https://www.casabatllo.es/en/online-tickets/. Ticket 28 euro This is an another must see. Granted the tickets are pricey, but if you book them on line you pay 23.50 euro plus you get an audio guide and a portable screen where you can see how each room looked like back in a day when Batllo family used to live there. The whole tour takes about an hour and it absolutely worth it both time and money, this house not only amazing to look at from the outside ( like many of Gaudí’s) buildings, it is also absolutely amazing to discover inside, and you get access to everything, every floor, outside patio and rooftop, the place is incerible … attention to details is immaculate, every little thing is in place and for a reason and If you want to feel what Gaudí creations are about - you should visit this house.  Casa Milà rooftop Casa Milà (La Pedrera) - https://www.lapedrera.com/en/home. Ticket 22 euro The most stunning feature of this place is the rooftop it gives you a fairy tail feeling, and as far as I know they hold concerts on the rooftop sometimes and I can imagine this being a transporting experience. Other then that - most of the building is not accessible, there is a bid with exposition at the mezzanine level, that tells you that Gaudí found his inspiration in nature, but honestly by your second day in Barcelona you know all that and you do not need a sea shell or honey comb in a glass box to convince you. There’s another level - Apartment where you can see how people used to live. You get an audio guide with your tickets and courtyard is really nice, but you should decide for yourself if this worth 22 euro… There’s a bit of confusion on a way in and I feel like most of the visit is you waiting in line for an elevator, if you want to skip the line, just ask where the stairs are - it is 8th floor and people will try to talk you out of it, but it is really easy and much faster then they make it out to be.  La Barceloneta The beach. La Barceloneta. - https://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/attractions/barcelona-spain-beaches.html One more nice thing about Barcelona is a close proximity to a number of beaches, Barceloneta, might be the most famous(read touristy) one, but really there’s a whole strip of beaches located along the coast. To my disappointment this September was unusually cold, according to locals, so I couldn’t swim … those 4 bikinis I packed never made it out of suitcase, and even if I would put them on all at once one on top of another one, still wouldn’t be warm enough to take a dip … nevertheless the sea is always beautiful and it is impossibly blue in Barcelona … Joining the blue sky - what a sign for a tired heart …  Back of my head is my best feature at Park Güell Final thoughts: Be prepared to walk a lot. Walking in Barcelona is not a chore, it is in adventure in itself - you get to discover small streets and passage ways, beautiful buildings and cute lunch spots, do wear sensible shoes tho.I stayed at L'Eixample neighborhood, so I walked to every sight. It might make sense to invest into centered location, so everything is close by. El Born is popular, Gothic quarter is touristy, but you will be right in a heart of everything. If you do end up staying further away, I would probably recommend investing in Barcelona Pass - gives you an opportunity to use all types of public transport, which is really easy and reliable. Book tickets on line, this way you will safe yourself lots of hassle, standing in line and disappointment of seeing a “sold out” sign. You might also save some money, since some places are cheeper to buy on line. Only use the official web sites while buying tickets, like the one I linked to in this post, other places often charge you ungodly commission. Try to have an earlier dinner, most of the locals have dinner after 9 p.m. so thats when restaurants are busy and it is hard to get a seat at a popular place. Most of the places people speak english, so it is easy to get around, but make effort of saying few things in Spanish, things like “hello" and "thank you", it is not much, but at least you tried. Most of the places have free wi fi, they don’t always advertise it, but if you ask, you will get a password. Cava is a kind sparkling wine and unlike champaign it would not upset your stomach ( or is it just me who have thing problem) Cava is great. Drink cava and be happy. Be ready to eat good food, drink good 4 euro a bottle wine, be ready to smile a lot, keep your eyes wide open, on a lookout for the next gorgeous building, be ready to be floored by Gaudí’s masterpieces and magnitude of one persons creative ability, be ready not too see everything at once, to have the feeling that you are missing something, be ready to make a promise to come back. Happy exploring <3 Dinara  Casa Batllo rooftop  Casa Batllo rooftop  Inside the Sagrada Familia  Inside the Sagrada Familia  Inside the Sagrada Familia  Inside the Sagrada Familia  Sagrada Familia  Being an absolute tourist  Park Güell  Park Güell  Park Güell  On the way to the beach  Casa Milà rooftop  Casa Milà  Arc de Triomf  Disseny Hub  Mercat del Born  Rockaway Beach Despite what one might think, this post is about literally hot as in high temperatures summer, so if you are hoping for some steamy content, I will disappoint you, but if you want to know how I battled way too hot NYC summer with the random combination of beaches and museums, read right on.  Fire Island dreaming Now, I know that beach and museum is not a traditional pairing, but somehow looking at the summary of my NYC summer time - that’s what it came down to. New York is the city I am lucky to call home and I am forever grateful to be living here, but every time I am staying in for a summer I am left with the question - what to do? There is something about summer time, you always want to feel that you made the best out of it, long awaited, when it is finally here you want to soak up every beat, but it just does not feel real summery if you don’t go on vacation or some kind of adventure, plus it gets stupid hot in NYC - just try to take a subway on a regular summer day - it will feel like you are in a sauna. Your most prized possession and best friend will be an AC, it also becomes high point in advertising - “We have AC” will be scribbled across all the chalk boards in front of every possible bar/restaurant/cafe… So how do you escape summer heat? Go to the beach or go somewhere with good AC…  Cousin IT enjoys the Beach Step one. Beach. All things considered we are lucky to have number of beaches all around NYC. Coney Island in Brooklyn, Rockaway in Queens, Fire Island, Hamptons and Montauk. Rockaway beach is a nice option, since it is easily accessible by public transportation, but less crowded then say Coney Island one. I really wanted to take advantage of a new Ferry service they opened up www.ferry.nyc/routes-and-schedules/route/rockaway/, for $2.75 a ride it seamed like a nice, scenic route option, but when I got to the Wall street the line turned out to be enormous, so I had to quickly abandon this idea and got to the plan B - subway. Luckily you can take A to 67th street (for example) quick walk and hooray you are at the beach. Helpful tip if you are planing on taking a subway on a weekend check this site - tripplanner.mta.info/MyTrip/ui_web/customplanner/TripPlanner.aspx. New York subway on weekends like to play games and trains often suffer from the identity crisis … so A, runs like C on E track, you get the idea…  Robert Moses State Park The Rockaway beach is in general nice - it is clean and equipped with new broad walk and fancy public restrooms, there is also a life guard on duty. What they dont have is any kind of cafe or bar or any place on site where you could get some kind of food, which is really disappointing, since picnic on a beach is generally a really nice idea, so come prepared, or make a stop at the grocery store (there is a Stop and Shop close by the subway) on the way to the beach.  Lighthouse on the way to the beach. Fire Island Much less crowded and more scenic would be Fire Island beaches. You will need to rent a car or get on a Ferry for that one, it is harder to reach but it is worth it. If you decide on a car - drive to Robert Moses State Park. You will need to pay a fee, at the parking lot this being a state park, but there are plenty of parking places and the beach is lovely, although keep in mind there might not be a life guard on duty … If you opt for the Ferry - www.fireislandferries.com www.sayvilleferry.com/index.php - you will be guaranteed nice views on a ride and will dock down at the very cute town with beach vibes, which is always fun to explore, also you will feel like you are far far away from NYC…  Metropolitan Museum of Art Step 2. Museums. While there are plenty of places that offer AC as an escape from NYC heat, I chose museums. Mostly because come summer time many of them feature nice events, so you can not only soak up culture and cool down but also listen for live music for example.  Life imitates art at MoMA I went down to MOMA for a life performance in there garden as a part of there Summer Thursdays and it was lovely. The concert is included in your museum admission price, which is a nice touch as well. You can find upcoming events here -www.moma.org/calendar/?happening_filter=All+events  same thing at Met Come Friday you can take advantage of MetFridays - www.metmuseum.org/events/programs/met-fridays that offers wide range of evening activities, some of which you might need to book a spot for in advance (you don’t need to pay extra, it is included with your museum admission) or simply come up to the roof and get a glass of wine. Art, wine, rooftop and views of Central Park - here is your summer living full swing.  MetFridays You can also get out of town and into a museum on a weekend. This summer I finally got to visit Dia:Beacon -www.diaart.org and it was an incredible experience, honestly I do not remember last time I was so excited by the museum, took me around 4 hours to explore everything and while sometimes you get simply overwhelmed by the amount of information that is thrown at you in the museums like lets say Met for example, that contains it all, and it is hard to filter through, at DIA everything works perfectly together, exhibitions blend seamlessly permanent and temporary displaces coexist cohesively guaranteeing beautiful experience. I am not gonna describe what you will find there, so not to spoil anything, but if you choose to go, there is plenty to see and do, and the building itself is a whole different story, Dia used to be a factory and it is still contains original walls, beams and most importantly windows, there are enormous amount of windows. Dia:Beacon uses only natural light and there is plenty of it coming from floor to ceiling windows and many many skylights, whole building gets this open space, airy feel and it is safe to say that everyone gets a different experience depending on a time of a day they come in, from cool morning light to the golden hour hues.  Dan Flavin at Dia:Beacon The great thing about Dia is also the fact that it is really easy to get to even without the car. Take advantage of Metro-North’s One-Day Getaway Package which includes a round trip tickets to Beacon from Grand Central and the museum ticket. All around win win win situation. Stop by the Beacon on a way back and explore cute town, if you are happen to be a “Doctor Who” fan - which I am not- stop by www.thepandoricarestaurant.com Even if "Doctor Who" is not your cup of tea, there are plenty of charming places to grab a bite at all conveniently located on a Main Street of course. One coffee shop even offers wine smoothies, which is a frozen wine blended in with fresh fruit, now tell me that doesn’t sound like fun. So this is a short recap of my New York summer, beaches, art and wine :) Hope you enjoyed reading this. Happy last days of Summer <3 Dinara  Dia:Beacon         |
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