Dali World!

Day 5 - Rosas, Spain

     We woke this morning to the sleepy little port of Rosas, situated on the Costa Brava, Spain's beautiful northern coast and very close to the French border.  Our excursion guide today was the dashing Carlos.  I nicknamed him Rico Suave.  At first his voice was sexy and soothing but as the ride got longer and longer and the history of where we were going got more in depth - old Rico Suave put me right to sleep.  I was beginning to dread the day until we parked our bus and walked over a bridge to a breathtaking little village - Girona.

     Girona is a centuries old Medieval city settled by the . . . wait for it . . . yes - THE ROMANS.    During the twelfth century, the Jews occupied a large section of Girona and we toured much of the Jewish quarter.  We were able to see some of the original walls of the city built by the Romans and even Arabic baths--not really Arabic, but baths that were copied in the style of the Arabs. I loved the stone work and mosaic cobbled squares.

     I could go on and on, but I would probably bore you as much as Rico Suave was boring me!  It was all very interesting but a little overwhelming and I felt like I was in a history lecture in college (and some of us know how that worked out - nuk-nuk!)  I was anxious to get to the real meat of the tour . . . the city of Figueres and home of DALI!!!

     But first . . . lunch.  Being the first full day of the cruise, we were all strangers and it was a bit awkward to sit at a large table and make small talk.  Fortunately, the gentleman sitting next to me broke the ice when he spoke up with an Aussie accent and introduced himself and his wife.  We had an instant connection and amazing conversation and spent the afternoon laughing and talking and getting to know one another.  Yay - we had "friends!"

     Knowing my love for all things art - you can imagine that the highlight of my day was the visit to "Dali World."  In the U.S., "Dolly World" has a whole other meaning, but I am referring, of course, to Salvatore Dali, and our visit to Teatrico Dali, or Dali's Theatre - the museum he designed himself, showcasing . . . himself! 

Dali was a narcissist, but I have to give him credit because he admitted he loved himself and was proud of it.  I particularly favor his surrealistic period, but it is hard not to view any of his work and wonder what was going on inside his head.   
 

I love that his art makes the viewer think--sometimes it is ugly, sometimes beautiful, but most certainly it is always thought provoking.
 

     Dali loved his wife, Gala and her image appears in the majority of his work - either her likeness, or her name.  The painting above shows her looking out a window at a seascape, but from a distance you can see Abraham Lincoln.  The painting is entitled, "Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea which at Twenty Meters Becomes a Portrait of Abraham Lincoln."  Oh my gosh, you've gotta love that.  The guy was a raving lunatic!

  
  As a lover of random things, I enjoy his work and the bizarre imagery.  It is nonsense, yet it made perfect sense to him, and frighteningly enough, a lot of it makes sense to me.  Sheer brilliance, or sheer madness - who's to say?

     And so ends another amazing day - can life get any better????

 "Surrealism is destructive, but it destroys only what it considers to be shackles limiting our vision." Salvador Dali