Unexpected Besalú

Purported to be the best preserved medieval town in Catalunya and renowned for its 12th-century bridge, Besalú was right on our way from Figueres to Olot. We made a non-customary overnight stay. In recent years we got in the habit of staying longer in larger towns and daytripping to smaller towns. We lucked out on this one.

Besalú with its emblematic bridge is very photogenic as expected. What I didn't count on: the bridge was very mesmerizing when lit at night, it. The whole town was washed in the aura of the bridge. We walked and walked, soaking in the atmosphere.

Besula is just 20 minutes by bus from Figures. We arrived at 6pm or so, directly from Figueres, and immediately headed to the Old Bridge.

Some shots from the compact (small) medieval Old Town.

We stayed at the aptly named Hotel 3 Arcs.

The next day we had a few hours to walk around Besula before catching the bus to Olot. First, back to the mirador that overlooks the Old Bridge.

There are some Roman Ruins just outside the City Wall.

The City Wall.

There are a few chair sculptures by Kel Domenech.

A few more bridge pics.

Remnants of the Jewish Quarter.

The old mill.

Figueres: Dali Museum

The Dali Museum in Figueres is an experience. I had not expected it, otherwise we would have checked it off the two times we were in Barcelona previously. Regardless of one's feeling about Dali's art or the thousands of objects in the museum, the place is palpitating with the energy and creativity of the man. Not in a million years, I could have dreamed up a fraction of his ideas.

The museum is unique in so many different ways. First of all, the place was a theater in its previous life. I am partial to architectural transformations, and have yet to come across a space that has been more thoroughly transformed (as for a theater, we were pretty taken by the Apple store in LA. Then for a single artist to plan and execute the entire project, I couldn't begin to name all the mediums, materials, methods... that were employed. Above all, it is a palace of the human imagination, by a single human.

Note to fellow travellers: Museum entrances can be reserved online. The museum can only store bags for the duration of the visit. Since we were traveling by bus, the bus station stores bags for 2 euros a piece.

The Dali Museum entrance.

The "Letters of the City" sculpture with a back corner of the Dali Museum behind.

The entire museum was designed by Dali himself. Here's an old photo, now displayed in the museum, of Dali in the entrance suring construction.

The Museum was fairly crowded at times, and this room was never empty.

While there were many 3D installations, there were also a slew of Dali's surrealist paintings. And few from his "blue period".








Pieta.






Salvador's wife and muse Gala at Port Lligat.

At one point I became mesmerized by the mannequins.

Dali's serious side. A nod to Velasquez's Las Meninas perhaps?

This ceiling is NOT the Sistine Chapel.

Self portrait.

The famous melting watches,The Persistence of Memory (La Persistència de la Memòria), painted in 1931.

Dali is buried in his museum and there are also a few photos of him scattered around. Here's one with an image of John Lennon in the background.

"In 1950, to celebrate the 700th anniversary of the birth of Dante, the Italian government commissioned Salvador Dalí to illustrate one of the most important works of Italian literature, Dante’s Divine Comedy.”

The entrance to the Dali-designed jewels.

The exterior with eggs and mannequins.

Philosopher sitting on a stack of tires.

Couple of interesting Modernismo / Art Nouveau buildings in Figueres. The helpful Tourist Office has a useful map. Below is the Tourist Office which is the former Abattoir (slaughterhouse).






Casa Hejme (1911).