From the inebriated madness of Pamplona, we took a serene train ride east to the subdued madness of the World Expo. The expo campus was within view of the train station when we arrived. I could see a line of gondolas (telecabinas) taking visitors from the station to a surreal collection of futuristic silver buildings. It seemed like I was looking at a model of the proposed design, not the real thing. The next morning, we took a shuttle from the hotel to the entrance, regrettably skipping the gondola ride. At first glance, the map was totally overwhelming with a list of over 100 participating countries plus additional exhibits. We started in Denmark and moved through Holland, Hungary, France, Japan, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Nepal, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco, Mexico, Greece, Italy and so many more. It's too bad I didn't take the Expo passport and get stamps wherever I went. The theme of the expo was water, so almost all the exhibits included fountains and other discussions of water.
The most notable exhibits were the countries with restaurants and videos. We had a breakfast of sweet jam and granola in Denmark. For lunch, we stopped in Poland and I had an incredible meal of stewed meat, saurkraut, and a salad with pickled mushrooms. In Russia, we stopped to have crepes and watched a movie discussing the mysterious characteristics of water. I introduced Lee to Ouzo in Greece, a liquor made of anise seed which turns opaque when it chills around ice cubes. I picked up prayer flags and a mandala painting in Nepal. I really felt like I'd been around the world in a strange, single-serving kind of way. I can't spend time describing every display, but over all, I do feel like the expo is an incredible way to catch glimpses into the cultures of other countries by seeing what part of themslves they are most proud of. It also felt as if I was shopping in a huge tourist mall, looking for the next trip to take.
We didn't see any of the city of Zaragoza before we took off, although there was a beautiful park behind our hotel. Mom, Lee and I took a bus to Barcelona on Friday and spent four days exploring that gorgeous city. The first evening, we walked to Las Ramblas from our hotel, the main pedestrian area. Street performers, tourists and locals filled the wide street. Of the performers, I saw Jack from Nightmare Before Christmas, an egyptian princess, a pirate, a juggler, and a lady covered in fake fruit. We had tapas for dinner and fell asleep listening to the city sounds of sirens and horns.
Saturday was art museum day. We took off for the Picasso Museum first thing and stopped by the old gothic Barcelona cathedral along the way. In the museum, Picasso's art was arranged in chronological order. Being able to see the progression of his paintings from detailed and realistic to experimentally abstract and eventually childishly chaotic was equally fascinating and confusing. I'll never know how that man's mind worked.
After a brief stop for lunch, we decided to catch a train north to Figueres, Dali's home town, to see his Theater Museum. After a two hour ride, we walked up to a huge pink building topped with golden eggs and covered in loaves of bread. Dali renovated this theater after it had been partially destroyed in the Spanish Civil War and filled the entire thing with his crazy paintings, sculptures and installations. I loved the relaxed and luxurious abandon with which Dali created. His work made Picasso feel stale and old fashioned. Dali's theater was filled with fun, like hologram images, mechanical structures that moved if you put a coin in, stereoscopic paintings which create the illusion of 3D, and a whole room full of paintings of rocks and lichens.
My favorite part of the day was Dali's jewelry exhibit. He mastered so many mediums and his jewelry is breathtaking. He starts out making necklaces and rings, but discards any function beyond beautiful with his larger designs. One is a heart of rubies that actually beats, pulsating from within just slightly enough that you could miss it in a glance. Another sculpture is of an elephant with long, skinny legs like some animals in his paintings walking upon a raw chunk of aquamarine. I won't say more except to recommend exploring Dali's museum in Figueres yourself if you ever have the chance. I felt so delightfully refreshed and creatively invigorated as we ran through a rainstorm back to the train station. The rain persisted throughout the night and served only to soften the harsh sounds of the cityscape outside our window.
As I write this, I'm listening to the last few gusts of a thundershower in New Mexico. I am back on the farm, weeding, planting, harvesting and watering. I'm still working on pictures and I'll be adding them to these posts as I upload them. I'll finish Barcelona soon.
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