Picasso Museum in Barcelona

This Barcelona day may take the cake for most blog posts. But the day was filled with many diverse artistic flavors; it is hard not to isolate and revel in each. We headed from the Sagrada Familia to the Museu Picasso. Yep this was our THIRD art museum in 24 hours. We felt very cultured in Catalan!

The Picasso Museum was just as stunning as the rest. Except no photos allowed hence I grabbed a few internet images to remember our favorites parts. The museum is a transformed monastery, so yet again the building itself rivaled the art on the walls.

The museum chronicled Picasso's life and works. There were many of the odd, harsh-lined pieces I associate with Picasso. But again there were some soft, pleasing surprises.

Like this one of a couple's embrace...

Connor's favorites were a series of pigeons by a beach...

The rooms built upon each other up to the last gallery. What a crescendo! The museum's master work was this colorless painting below...

It is Picasso's interpretation and reproduction of this painting below, Las Meninas by Diego Valazquez (which hangs at The Prado)...

But the key grey painting was not what its all about. The best part was the adjacent hall with 58 colorful trials and interpretations leading up to the bigger "Las Meninas" work. The geometry and colors were incredibly appealing. The museum calls the series "an exhaustive study of form, rhythm, colour and movement." It was like watching an artist's puzzle being put together right before our eyes - piece by piece.

I wonder why Picasso did his practice pieces in bold colors but abandoned them for a hueless final work?

Heading from the Picasso Museum to the Old Town we found the National Cathedral.

It was a gorgeous spot, yet all the fun and activity was happening outside on the steps.

Every Saturday groups gather to dance in the square - young and old. What a festive tradition! We sat and gawked. It was hard not to jump right in. If only we knew the steps. The dance was well choreographed, so all three hung back and clapped along with the many circular groups of dancers.

We capped off a brilliant Barcelona day with a stroll down Las Ramblas and a tapas dinner along the harbor. Kirk looked at me during dinner and said "I could return to Barcelona again and again and again" - High compliment from someone who never wants to travel the same place twice!