Fundacio Joan Miro

My daughter, Britt, and I started our day by taking a taxi up Montjuic hill to visit the Fundacio Joan Miro (the Joan Miro Museum). Joan Miro (1893–1983) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, and ceramicist born in Barcelona.

Fundacio Joan Miro

The “Grande Maternite” sculpture greeted us. The museum was fun to visit.

Fundacio Joan Miro

One of the galleries of the museum, which was big.

Joan Miro

Miro was a Surrealism painter: “a sandbox for the subconscious mind, a re–creation of the childlike, and a manifestion of Catalan pride.” This painting is named “Personagge Devan Le Soleil.”

Sculpture

A sculpture by Joan Miro.

Very Unusual Painting

There was a video as to how Joan Miro produced this painting. At first it was a whole canvas that was painted and then a blow torch and much body English such as stomping on it was added.

“La Defense”

These were big sculptures, more than life–sized, called together “La Defense, Pair of Lovers Playing.”

I have put my photos of the Fundacio Joan Miro on a slideshow. Go to http://www.peggysphotos.com/fundacio–joan–miro/ (Slide Shows, Spain–1, Barcelona 2019, “Fundacio Joan Miro”).

View from Montjuic

There is a terrace with a viewing platform at the museum but it had been taken over by a film crew. Down the street, we found another place with good views. Photo: view of Barcelona.

Sagrada Familia

A view of the Basilica of Sagrada Familia from Montjuic.

Tibidabo Mountain

A view of Tibidabo Mountain, the highest elevation in Barcelona.

Temple of Tibidao

The Temple of Tibidao (Temple of the Sacred Heart of Jesus) on top of Tibidao Mountain.

Temple of Tibidabo

Closer–up photo of the Temple of Tibidabo. Thee is an amusement park below the temple. You can take a bus up the mountain or go by train and funicular.

View of Barcelona

In this photo you can see the cylindrical Torres Glories and, in front of it, the Barcelona Cathedral. We were planning on taking the Port Cable Car down but we couldn’t find it. We mistook the Monjuic Cable Car station with the one for the Port Cable Car. When we realized this, we took a taxi and directed him to the address we had for the Port Cable Car. We went up a steep hill and found the road blocked by a large solid metal gate. So we asked the taxi driver to take us down the hill to the Port Cable Car station in Port Vell. We would go up Montjuic instead of down from it.

Port Cable Car

We next took the port cable car up to Montjuic. An elevator took us up to the platform on top. There was a long line waiting to get on the cable car. We had run into one of my tour mates on my Globus tour after that tour was over who told us that she had been pickpocketed on the cable car. So we were watching carefully for pickpockets and spotted two (a couple) right away––they were not dressed like tourists and looked out of place. The female of the couple tried to get me to smile at her at a cafe at the cable station at the top. I didn’t. She also bumped into Britt while we were waiting for the cable car––one of the things that pickpockets do to keep your attention away from their partner.

View from the Platform

A view from the platform waiting for the cable car.

Frank Gehry’s “Fish”

We had a great view from the platform of Frank Gehry’s “Fish,” a sculpture he made for the Barcelona Olympics.

The Cable Car

The cable car we would go up in. We rode high above the city of Barcelona. The ride really wasn’t scary at all.

Hotel Miramar Barcelona

The Hotel Miramar Barcelona was directly across from the Port Cable Car station on Montjuic. If we had known this, we would have directed our taxi to it. A better way to go up to Montjuic and back would be to first take the Port Cable Car from Port Vell. Then walk down the steep hill (better to walk down it than up it), turn left and you will soon walk past the station for both the Monjuic Cable Car that will take you higher up and the funicular that will take you down from Montjuic. Then you walk farther left to reach the Fundacio Joan Miro. Before you visit the Fundacio Joan Miro, you could take the Monjuic Cable Car, visit the museum, and then take the funicular down from Monjuic.

Mirador de Colon

A great view of the Mirador de Colon (Christopher Columbus statue) from near the cable car station on Montjuic.

Christopher Columbus

Close–up of the Christopher Columbus statue.

Statue on the Beach

We took the Port Cable Car down from Montjuic. We were very near the beach and saw this beach sculpture.

I have put my photos of our cable car ride on a slideshow. Go to http://www.peggysphotos.com/port–cable–car–barcelona/ (Slide Shows, Western Europe, Spain–1, Barcelona 2019, “Port Cable Car Barcelona”).

Snack on the Beach

Britt and I had drinks and a snack at a cafe on the sand on the beach. I had nachos and I complimented the chef on them. I told him the nachos tasted just like they do in Los Angeles. He was very, very pleased by the compliment. I had hibiscus juice to go with the nachos.

Rickshaw Ride

We next took a rickshaw from the beach to La Rambla.

Gothic District

Our rickshaw ride took us through the Gothic District.

La Rambla

La Rambla is one of the main streets in Barcelona. Its middle is a pedestrian street and has a reputation as a haven for pickpockets. We didn’t walk down much of it, so I didn’t take many photos of it, but I did when I was in Barcelona in 2005 and those photos are at http://www.peggysphotos.com/barcelona–las–ramblas/ (Slide Shows, Western Europe, Spain–1, “Las Ramblas”). (It is correctly La Rambla though it is often referred to as Las Ramblas.)

La Rambla

After our short walk down La Rambla, we went back to the hotel. Britt and I both flew back to our homes the next day but on different flights. I flew from Barcelona to Munich and then from Munich to Los Angeles.