Figueres, Spain

Here we are in Figueres, after a 4.5 hour high-speed train ride through Spain.  [We thought we would at least catch a glimpse of Barcelona's iconic architecture as we entered and left the train station.  But, no, the Barcelona station is entirely underground.  All we saw were suburbs and the black night of tunnels. Darn it!]

In Figueres, the home of Salvador Dali and the Dali Theatre and Museum, we have a room in someone's apartment through AirBnb, not the whole apartment this time.  It is a gorgeous modern apartment and we have a huge bed in a beautifully appointed room with adjacent bathroom.  Our room has a tiny balcony overlooking a side-street and the apartment itself has a beautiful terrace balcony overlooking the small plaza beside the apartment building, with a great view of the Teatro Jardi Cine which apparently has frequent concerts and lots of activity periodically.  Tonight, it was at rest.

On the right is a Dali-like fantasy book structure that children can climb on.  I'll  post a better photo of it tomorrow, especially for my librarian friends.  I didn't want the parents to think I was photographing their children, rather than the structure.  This was taken at the end of our evening in Figueres.

After we were settled, we walked around the city center nearby and ventured to the Dali Museum to see if we needed to purchase our tickets for our visit tomorrow.  Thankfully, we did not have a repetition of the Reina Sofia debacle in Madrid.  The Museum is OPEN tomorrow and there should be no problem with tickets because it's the slow season.  (Besides, they won't sell tickets ahead of time in person, only online.  Hmmm...)

The beautiful Rambla in Figueres

This appears to be "City Hall" at 5pm.  Notice the banner over the door and the lack of people in the plaza.

The iconic Dali Theatre and Museum

I couldn't help it.  I just love these antlers on some of the tour buses all over  Europe.

The house where Salvador Dali grew up in Figueres.  According to the  B&W photos in the windows, the house to the right is on the site of the Dali garden.

The Dali dome with Iglesia de San Pedro's tower in the background.  Notice the golden human figures poised on the edges of the building; some seem to be preparing to dive.

More golden divers all along the roof edge of the Dali Museum

This sculpture is pure Dali and the back is downright scary

So, while looking around for a good, cheap place to eat.  We noticed that the "City Hall" plaza was starting to fill up.  When I mentioned this might be a demonstration starting, I was reminded that the Paseo happens every night in every Spanish plaza and public area.  So, we sat down at one of the outdoor tables at a cafe in the plaza to eat and watch the Paseo.  Then, about half way through our meal, we started hearing amplified speeches and noticed that the entire plaza area in front of the "City Hall" was filled with people facing the "democracia" banner over the door.  The speeches, some rather passionate, most more like reports, went on for half an hour.  There were children among the crowd, so we figured it was safe enough for us.  At the end, and interspersed among the speeches, there was a great deal of applause.  On the internet news when we returned to our room, we heard that the the Catalan leader, Mr. Puigdemont, has agreed to go to the Spanish parliament tomorrow, Thursday, to explain his position.  Friday is the day that Spain plans to take over the Catalan government and fire all the Catalan government leaders.  So, tomorrow should be very interesting - Dali and political unrest.  We are living in exciting times!

Atun (tuna, the best he says he's ever eaten) salad for Steve and lomo bocadillo caliente con queso (pork loin and cheese sandwich on baguette, heated) for me, with the ever popular Coca Cola and olive bowl.  [I'm am learning to love olives.]

This plaza filled up fast.  By 7:30pm, it was packed.

We will keep you posted - Dali and politics tomorrow.  We sleep in Figueres tonight and tomorrow night.  Then, it's off to Perpignan, France by train on October 27.  [Steve is stoked to be going to France.  However, our attempt to speak French with the Dali ticket agent (who only spoke Spanish and French) did not go well because we effectively only speak English.  C'est la vie! - at least for now.]

Madrid in all its glory

Laundry started, we headed for Reina Sofia this morning, eager to see everything.  There was only one snag, the museum is closed on Tuesdays.  It seems that you can do lots of research and miss some rather crucial bits.  We were SO disappointed, but this last museum on our Paseo de la Arte pass can wait.  Our pass is good for an entire year and we may pass this way again.

If one door closes..., as they say.  We realised that, if we don't spend the whole day at the Reina Sofia Museum, we have all of Madrid at our disposal.  So, after drying the laundry at the local launderette, we bought tickets for the Madrid City Tour (Hop On Hop Off).  It was fantastic!  And, I took lots of photographs.

With a tip off from our daughter, we were able to do a treasure hunt all across the city for the displays set up to advertise the upcoming Harry Potter Exhibition, coming to Madrid on November 18, 2017.  I'm proud to announce that we found every single one of them: 3 were accessible from our tour bus and one we had to find by navigating with the public buses.  Steve is an excellent navigator and has saved our bacon more times than I care to think of on this trip.

Sorting Hat at Plaza de Colon, Madrid

Dobby at Glorieta de Balboa, Madrid

Coche de Weasleys at Retiro Park, Madrid

Harry Potter's broom at Plaza de Callao, Madrid

We are indeed heading into Catalonia.  Yes, we know that the region is unsettled right now. We do not plan to go into Barcelona, though we are both very eager to see it.  But, the deadline given to Catalonia to hand over the reins of government to Spain is Thursday.  If the leaders do not do so and if Catalonia declares independence and resists, it is possible there will be violence, or huge demonstrations and disruption of transportation at the very least in Barcelona. Figueres is our consolation prize for skipping Barcelona now.

We leave on the 11:30 am train from Madrid to Figueres tomorrow.  We have an AirBnb room reserved across from the Dali Museum, the place which used to be Salvador Dali's home.  The room is also fairly near the railroad station, too.  We are staying two nights and will be headed to Perpignan, France on Friday, October 27, 2017.  Yes, we are making a run for the border and I never in my life expected to even semi-seriously say those words.

I have been told more than once that the Catalan people are peaceful and that they fully intend to keep this dispute with the Spanish national government non-violent.  I hope that is the case.  This is an incredibly diverse and beautiful country.  The Spanish people that we have met and dealt with have been exceptionally kind and considerate.  Most do not seem to be concerned about this dispute with Catalonia.  The U.S. State Department has also not issued any travel warnings about Catalonia or Barcelona in particular.  We are just being cautious.

I will post frequently to let our loved ones know we are okay.

Madrid - Again

We arrived in beautiful Madrid on a high-speed train and, since I am so done with walking everywhere and didn't want to wander all over looking for the address of our next AirBnb, I insisted on taking a taxi from the train station.  Our driver apologized and took a huge turn around a large chunk of the city to get to the address because he said, in part Spanish, part English and gestures, that it was easier to walk to it than drive to it.  Actually, it turns out that the apartment is directly across the street from the Atocha train station = $10 to go across the street.  But, on the bright side, we did find the address very easily and didn't have to walk all over looking for it. 😉

Our AirBnd apartment is lovely and very convenient for what we came to do before we head for France.  We are going to spend several hours tomorrow at the Reina Sofia Museum, which is across the street from Atocha Railway Station, which is across the street from us.  Then, I had high hopes of seeing some of that Harry Potter advertising that is supposed to be in 4 different places around the city.  Unfortunately, the "sculptures" may not be in place yet and, even if they are, it's all pretty far away from us.  The actual Harry Potter Exhibition doesn't begin until November 18 in Madrid, darn it.  But, perhaps we can do a taxi exploration while we take care of some personal errands.

We are carefully monitoring what is happening in Catalonia, but we decided to head to Figueres, north of Barcelona, anyway to see the Dali museum.  Friday we will know if that was a really stupid idea or not.  But, at least, we are not seeing danger alerts for American or British tourists.  So, it will probably be fine.

Photos from Madrid soon!