We were in Figueres to see the Salvador Dali Museum. The heart of the museum is the town’s theatre that Dali knew as a child. It was where one of the first public exhibitions of young Dali’s art was shown. The old theatre was burned during the Spanish Civil War and remained in a state of ruin. In 1960, Dali and the mayor of Figueres decided to rebuild it as a museum dedicated to the town’s most famous son. Dali is buried there in a crypt below the stage.
I want my museum to be a single block, a labyrinth, a great surrealist object. It will be [a] totally theatrical museum. The people who come to see it will leave with the sensation of having had a theatrical dream.
Salvador Dali
The museum guide warns: If we take into account the idiosyncrasy of Dali the origin of the museum, then perhaps we ought to recommend you not to follow a preconceived route. The museum is a collection of rooms, corridors and stage that displays various paintings, sculptures, jewellery and mechanical pieces.
The thing that we enjoyed most was the building along with the paintings in the surrealistic style that Dali is most famous for. I also enjoyed the jewellery – shiny things!
After lunch we drove on to Girona, where parts of Game of Thrones were filmed. We enjoyed a wander around the narrow cobbled streets
We visited Cul de la Lleona, it’s rumoured that many years ago, on C/Calderes stood L’hostal de la Lleona (The Lioness Hostel). The main claim to fame of this establishment was a column built into the wall that had a stone lioness climbing up it. Everybody who went past it could, without making too much effort, touch its behind. As such it turned into a custom. Indeed, it became so popular that visitors to Girona were told that if they touched the creature’s backside, they would never leave the city, or, if they did, they would be sure to return. Over time, the custom has changed and rather than touching the bottom, it became traditional to give it a kiss. I decided that touching the butt was sufficient.
We then stood on the steps that Queen Cersei stood on in season 6 episode 10 of Game of Thrones #popularculture
We spotted a coffee shop that roasted and ground it’s own coffee on site so we popped in for some caffeine and sugar.
Suitably replenished with a Xuixo, a local delicacy from Girona, a nommy sugar-coated cylindrical deep fried pastry filled with crema catalana, we headed back to the van for the evening.