Crossing things off my list

Originally there was only one thing on my list, but the day got filled.

It started with a long run in preparation for a half-marathon in July.
The heat and humidity wiped me out even though I started at 6:30 a.m.
Truth - this is tomorrow's forecast, but it is virtually the same.

Next up was another new library (more about that later) where I checked out Frankenstein Junior, known as Young Frankenstein in English. We'll watch it to celebrate Father's Day.

I was lucky that the library that had the movie was
within walking distance of the Maker Faire, my first.

The building is made with two different types of filaments so it looks great in person. The geographical piece changed colors as it went. So many cool things that people made

One of may favorite uses for a laser cutter was to make a dollhouse!

I walked to the bus stop and waited across from an
old fire station that is now a training center and museum

Last August we bought special art passport that would get us into six museums at almost half price and would let us skip the line. Three were big ones (Miro, National Art Museum of Catalonia, and Picasso), but the others were all contemporary art museums. One was close to where I wanted to catch the train so I decided to visit.

I liked the building and all the skateboarders outside, but some of the exhibits were disturbing. The forensic architecture exhibit, which I found fascinating, focused on all sorts of crimes and the Martha Rosler: God Bless America! exhibit had a lot of social commentary. I found the combination overwhelming. You can take virtual tour of some of the museum here.

After making an imaginary wish list in the gift shop I headed to the train station along Carrer d'Elisabets and found this cool store that takes street banners and turns them into pencil cases, wallets, messenger bags, etc. I wanted one of everything.

I also want this banner advertising our town's festival.
It is free to look and takes up no room in the suitcase.

Quick trip, part two

Because we were on foot we saw only a small part of Valencia, but it was a nice part!

Plaça de l'Ajuntament

Also on Plaça de l'Ajuntament.

Torres de Quart
We saw a lot more Spanish flags when were in the autonomous region of Valencia, one of seventeen regions. It has its own language, Valencian, but I am not clear how much it is used.

Plaza de la Virgen
with a statue of Neptune

We did not see the Holy Grail when we were in Valencia,
but we read about it and watched the Monty Python movie!

Guarding a bridge

Poseidon near the skatepark

The most visited site in Valencia is the City of Arts and Sciences, a twenty-year-old complex of stunning buildings housing the science museum, aquarium, and theater.

If we hadn't narrowly missed being caught in a thunderstorm I would have taken even more than twenty pictures. Here is a small sample.

We chose to visit only the science museum, which was a good choice since it filled all our time.

I was surprised that this entire exhibit was entirely in Castilian and Valencian, although the translator asks if I want to translate from Catalan, so the languages are similar. I just looked at the pictures.

It was a quick trip, but really felt like a vacation. Maybe we
should do the same thing when we return to California.

Full day

Some weekends time just melts away, but yesterday was a full day.

A.'s school has its Festa Major/Major Festival. We had no idea what that meant, but 

we figured out that A. had to go to a couple events and the awards ceremony,

where he received a medal for fair play. Afterward he tried some free samples from the sponsors. That was it for him. Parents were allowed to attend, but mostly the primary kids had parents there.

In the morning, when the older kids were doing their activities, there was a fund raising bike ride.

The people in yellow helped clear the route, which was definitely necessary given the route and the cycling ability of the participants. Here you can check out a video of a small bit of the event. The road they are on is several blocks long and usually has traffic in both directions. Good thing the city was a co-sponsor of the event!

A. and a friend traipsed around Barcelona for several hours. At a bee festival
near the Arc de Triomf they watched while the artist created this with spray paint!

We met up in the evening and were amazed by the variety of
fidget spinners that are already in the tourist stores. 

Night of the Museums had more participants than we could ever take
advantage of, but we picked a few out to try since the price was right.

It was amazing to see giants that have been in continuous use for over 100 years!

Many of these giants had stories about being hidden
away only to be discovered many decades later.

From the sign, "In bygone times, carasses were heads of Arabian donning long beards, which were installed under the organs of some churches. Around Christmas, they threw sweets out to the children in the crowd. The city has recovered this tradition by way of the Carassa de Barcelona, or Carassa de Nadal, an entertaining and parading figure that throws out candy during the Santa Llúcia Fair."

The sign for this one described the turtle body, humanized cat head,
and split personality, sometimes spitting fire and sometimes giving out sweets. 

A picture of a picture of it in action.

A picture of a picture of the hobby horses in action. 

We were very happy with our choice of museums and I encourage you check out historic pictures and more current ones. After leaving we headed off to the chocolate museum, but sometimes free means paying with time and we were not willing to wait in a line that we could not even see the front of!

We caught a bus and headed to a one-hallway museum.

The entire museum was in Catalan, but we enjoyed looking at the pictures.

Sant Cugat had a few activities, too, including a lot of concerts in surprising places (e.g., a cappella across from the bakery). A. snapped this picture, which I thought might have been part of the adult percussion event (adult as in grown ups, not adult as in X-rated), but I am not sure.

Just trying to squeeze it all in before we leave!

Soaking it up

It was not so far to walk from the end of the train line to the museum, so we did. There is always something to see.

Notice the Papereria on the upper right-hand tile that was outside

this paper good store. I love that!

I like the music building, too.

We could not take pictures in the Picasso Museum,

but I snapped a couple of the exterior and

I couldn't resist this picture from inside the museum. There we were, among amazing
artwork in a beautiful building, but everyday needs still must be met. I love seeing laundry!

I could not take pictures of Picasso's pigeon series, which was new to me,
but I did take a picture in the gift shop. You can read more about the pigeons here.

After the museum we were going to catch a different train and again chose to walk and stumbled across this belated Earth Day celebration. There was a lot of delicious vegan food and a variety of things for sale. Unlike at home there did not seem to be a lot of environmental groups educating people and sharing their ideas.

Our trip finished with a visit to the electronics store, which was filled with many temptations.

I will miss the ease and low cost (two euros) of getting to Barcelona!