Three Museum Tourists Overlook: 1
In hordes, visitors to Barcelona line up at the Picasso Museum, the MNAC and Gaudì’s Pedrera. There’s a good reason for this, as these are some of the city’s finest museums. I do recommend every one of them. However, if you show up at the Museo Picasso and the line curves around the block promising an hour and a half wait, maybe you’d be better off checking out a lesser-known Barcelona museum? Here’s where to go if you don’t like Disneyland-lines:
No. 1: Museu Marítim
This beachside museum is dedicated to all things sea-related in Catalonia. Barcelona is on the coast, and therefore has strong cultural ties to the water. In the museum you’ll find boats of all shapes and sizes from different historical eras of sea navigation in Catalonia, plus ancient fishing gear and information about the evolution of the area’s lighthouses. One of my favorite ships on display is the decedent Royal Galley, a heavily decorated, red and golden ship used in the past for Spanish royalty.
Another interesting perk is the museum’s figurehead collection. These are the sculptures that would have graced the very front tip of a ship, most commonly rendering the bust of a woman. At the museum you’ll find figureheads such as Ninot (a male doll), Negre de Riba (the black man from Riba), and in contrast Blanca Aurora (White Aurora). Most of these figureheads are from the 1900’s. There’s also a library on site with many manuscripts in Catalan and Spanish about maritime subjects plus a collection of model ships.
While it’s easy to do, it should not be forgotten that Barcelona is on the sea. While I would skip the dip in the Mediterranean waters that flank the city (in a word, filthy), I’d recommend a look at the sea and its important role played in Barcelona at the Museu Marítim. After a visit to the museum head down the portside boardwalk and have lunch in Barceloneta with a view of today’s maritime culture; sailboats, yachts, and cruise ships.
ADDRESS
Av. de les Drassanes s/n
08001 Barcelona
Tel. 933 429 920 Fax 933 187 876
From Monday to Sunday: between 10:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. (ticket sales until 7 p.m.)
Three Museum Tourists Overlook: 2
Next on our unknown museum list is the Ceramic’s Museum. While avoided by most because of it out-of-the-way location and boring label, the Museu de Ceràmica has a lot to offer.
No. 2: Museu de Ceràmica
For those who appreciate the molding of mud to plate, the Museu de Ceramica’s walk through the evolution of clay art in Spain will be an interesting one. Not many people get over to the ceramic museum because of it way up-town location. It’s on Diagonal Street heading out of the city on a massive estate which used to belong to local royalty. The building where the collection is kept was a palace for the Pedralbes family, but converted into the current museum in 1990.
Within the museum’s collection are ceramics from Andalusia, Valencia, Aragon, Castilla, and Catalonia. In the exhibit visitors can take a look at pots from the 8th to the 15th century from Southern Spain, when the area was not Spanish at all. Of course, the pots, plates, jugs and tiles from this era are heavily influenced by Islamic art, with geometric designs quite different to ceramic art found in the north of the country.
There is also an interesting permanent exhibition of ceramics from Catalonia and specifically Barcelona. Here we find intricate plates depicting daily events in the city, such as people enjoying a ‘Chocolate festival’ in a metropolitan park (1700), and delicate tiles and platters with booty-loaded ships painted on them. Truly, these ceramics give a small history lesson, as their crude forms and decorative glazes become finer and rendered with more intricacy through the ages.
If all this wasn’t enough, the museum also offers occasional workshops and rotating modern ceramic exhibitions. While maybe not everyone’s museum of choice, those who know clay will appreciate Museu Ceràmica.
Address:
Palau Reial de Pedralbes
Av. Diagonal, 686
08034 Barcelona
Metro: Palau Reial (L3)
Bus: 7, 33, 63, 67, 68, 74, 75, 78, 113
Bus turístic: ruta nord
Three Museum Tourists Overlook
And finally, the third of our overlooked Barcelona museums, a little gem right in the center where there’s never a line or a crowd.
No. 3: Fundacio Tapies
Right in the center of town off the prestigious Passeig de Gracia, Fundació Tàpies is located in a fabulous building with one of the artist’s crazy sculpture on top of it, resembling a giant yarn ball of barbed wire. It’s hard to miss.
Inside there is a permanent exhibition of Antoni Tàpies’ (1923-2006) work, which is a combo of Surrealism-inspired painting and sculpture of the most bizarre sort. He was one of the first of his time to nail a chair to the wall, splatter paint on it and say, “Now that’s art!” Here’s your chance to go to his museum and see if you agree.
Indeed, he is quite famous and while most contemporary art makes me nuts, I like Tàpies’ creations, if for nothing more than their sheer size. He worked big and bold. Also in the museum on the lower floor, is a space where they hold new exhibitions every month. The last time I visited it was a multi-media sort of affair, with confusing documentaries and interactive art. If nothing else, the place is weird and interesting, and for sure the only one of its kind in the city. Some people say that the absolute best part of the Tàpies Museum is the library, which holds a wide selection of art books which can be perused in a quite room where nearly nobody ventures. This library is a little slice of peace and quiet in busy Barcelona.
www.fundaciotapies.org
Aragó 255
08007 Barcelona
(t) +34 934 870 315
(f) +34 934 870 009
Italian. Always a Good Choice
When you want the real deal, head to Pastarito
Spain is a little over an hour away by plane from Italy. The two countries peek at each other over the Mediterranean Sea, and share more in style and architecture than either might like to admit. This is why it has always been confusing to me as to why it is so hard to find Italian food products in Barcelona. Want ricotta? You’ll need to go to a specialty store. Italian mozzarella? You won’t find an original in your local market, but the Spanish rendition (not quite right). It’s mind boggling, this refusal to share products and cheese, but true.
Therefore, if you want real pasta and the real Italian experience, you have to go out to eat. Enter Pastarito, an authentic Italian pasta place with moderate prices and just the right amount of style. A small chain restaurant, Pastarito’s products come from Italy from trusted suppliers. The menu is made up of traditional Italian dishes that stick to the rules of traditional cuisine. There’s no fusion here, it’s 100% old school. They offer fresh tortellini, farfalle and a daily ‘surprise’ pasta created by the chef. Peruse the wine list and maybe try the Sicília Blanc Columba Olatino 2006 if it rings your chimes. The pizza is also comes highly recommended.
Where: c/ Llacuna 148
When: everyday – Lunch and dinner
Contact: 93 485 68 02
Price: €25 p/p
CAFÉ LLETRAFERIT
Catalan Books and Fresh Squeezed Juice
I’ll admit it; I didn’t know that the Barcelonese spoke Catalan as their mother-tongue until about a month before moving to the city. “Catalan?” I said “What’s that?”
Catalan is the language of Catalonia, an area of Spain stretching along the eastern shoreline from France to Valencia (Catalan is also spoken on the Balearic Islands and in Andorra). News, songs, signs and books are written in Catalan in Barcelona. Such is the case at Lletraferit, a café which meshes reading, coffee, and fruit juice, a combination I adore. Most of the books at the café are in Catalan, so if you read a page and understand nothing, don’t be alarmed. Switch your mind over to French or Italian reading mode (Catalan most resembles these two languages, at least in written form) and try again.
Of course, you don’t have to read at Lletraferit. Set yourself up at a round table by the window and order a vino de la casa as you watch the world go by outside on busy Joaquim Costa street. With over twenty flavors of tea, espresso drinks, fruit juices, cocktails and desserts, the café has a minimal menu and good service. While always busy around 8pm, one can still usually get a table in this ultra-hip bar. While it is cool, it is not pretentious and makes for a great place to meet with friends or even go solo.
Lletraferit also offers workshops, lectures, guest authors and different art exhibitions each month. Located deep in the Raval neighborhood, this area is one of the most diverse in Barcelona and some parts are better than others. Stay on the well-lit, main streets and enjoy!
Where: c/ Joaquim Costa, 43
When: From 4pm to 3am every day
Contact: 93 301 19 61
The Picasso Museum….for Lunch
art and quiche
Those who come to Barcelona should visit the Picasso Museum. Along with the Miró Museum and the MANC, the Picasso Museum is one of the city’s best. The building in of itself is a grand place, set in the heart of the hip Borne barrio, deep in the city’s gothic center.
Besides peeking at the works of the Malaga-born painter, the museum offers a fabulous new café to have lunch. Creatively named, Café Museu Picasso, the café specializes in crepes of all flavors, perhaps bringing in Picasso’s years spent in Paris, as crepes are not normally a common Catalan dish. Like the French tend to do, the menu is simple and good, offering salads and crepes and something to drink. What more do you need? Among the creative crepes on the menu are mixes of Brie, Spanish ham, choco-banana, orange and cream, and more. The café also does a mean salmon and spinach quiche.
Sometimes eating at a museum café can leave something to be desired, the ambiance resembling a high school cafeteria. Not so at the Café Museu Picasso, where a modern meets sophisticated design style creates a comfortable atmosphere which lends itself well to the museum’s building and overall vibe. Tables are covered in linen tablecloths and there are sofas to lounge on with cappuccinos after a tiring tour of Picasso’s sketches. There’s also an outside terrace with tables in the sun, perfect for a spring or summer afternoon clara. Indeed, the last time I went to the café, I did not tour the museum (I’ve already seen it). The café stands on it’s own as a nice place to get lunch, with or without Pablo. The surrealist painter only makes it that much better.
Info:
Contact: Montcada, 15-23 (separate entrance from that of the museum)
93 310 31 18
Times: Tuesday to Sunday from: 10am to 8pm.
Price: About €20.00 p/p
Live Music: Harlem Jazz Club Rocks Everyday of the
True, it can be crowded and smoky, not to mention loud and standing-room-only. Still, the Harlem Jazz Club holds a special place in my heart for its unique ability to make any hum-drum night a whole lot of fun. Harlem is one of the best bohemian-bar, small concert venues in the city. This could be because it’s been around for a while, first opening its doors to swingers and shakers in 1988. It offers an extensive lineup each week, with groups playing soul, flamenco-fusion, tango, swing, rock-n-roll, reggae, blues, jazz and African music.
It’s a bar, so eat before you go at one of the hundreds of restaurants in this lively part of the gothic zone. With your €10.00 cover to get into Harlem, you get a beer, (mixed drinks are €3.00 extra and careful with the absinth). Not a bad deal. Shows generally start around 10pm and go for a couple hours. It’s smart to go early if you want one of the few tables near the stage. After the show, most people clear out, but a few hang around listening to DJs and chatting until the club shuts down at 3:30am. It’s a fun place and makes for a great night out on the town with friends.
The month of May 2008 offers the following musical selection at Harlem: Bahía Salsera, Romaní Chave Bulgaria, Albert Pla and Marcio Mello. A full schedule for night to night performances can be found on their website.
Info:
Contact: Comtessa de Sobradiel, 8
# 93 310 07 55
Price: About €10.00 p/p