Expenduria Poetica, Barcelona

You stop at the Poetry Dispensary/Pharmacy at 8, Career dels coroners in Barcelona, a stone's throw from the Picasso Museum and this is what you get for your one or two euro donation from Barcelona Take Away Poetry: the chance to pick three words from the stamp board, queue for a little and have a unique poem crafted for you by two poets.

Ok, so it's a bit of a gimmick and I don't read Spanish well enough to judge whether the poem is any good, but it met the brief of using the three chosen words, which in my case were body, future and believe,  and it was a novel hour with a free band playing in the back room (not that I suppose they have one every Saturday). I'm not entirely sure about the whole poet-hostesses in uniform thing, but the desk accessories were fun, even if the first typewriter broke when it was my turn.

And the poem - a little hard to decipher due to ribbon issues, but I've translated it with help from the Spanish boy and then made this rather shorter English version:

Body/Belief

My body a dark country
of secrets, spirit
heaven and hell
bleeds poppies of passion.

A sea stormed
with the lost
will have me believing
in monsters and angels.

One day I'll believe in you.

Little Treasures from the Prado in Barcelona

I've never been to the Prado.

That'll be because I've never been to Madrid, apart from for a day for business, but that doesn't count as I saw nothing other than a taxi and a meeting room.

That'll be because I made a very bad decision when I was eighteen and broke up with a lovely Spanish boy who wanted to take me home, for quite a long time, actually.

Instead this week, I have contented myself with an interesting exhibition at the Caixa Forum in Barcelona of small paintings from the Prado's collection, some of which are apparently rarely on show.

So even if I'd gone there, there would have been no guarantees that I'd have seen Bruegel's Building of the Tower of Babel, the several terrifying Boshes, or all those exquisite Velasquezes and el Grecos.

Certainly the best value four euros can buy and I had the place to myself.

Joan Miro Foundation

I tried very hard to like Miro today, but honestly, most of it left me a bit cold. I guess there just are some artists who I don't really go for and he is one of them. Great building though and an extensive collection with temporary exhibitions by other artists, which is part of the foundation's mandate.

Super views of Barcalona and it's near the Olympic Stadium for those into that kind of tourism. Plus extensive parks and gardens all around, including the fabulous Botanical Gardens where you can lush up the vegetation from Australia to Chile, South Africa to California without having to get on a plane.  

Today's best thing: having time to play with words with this translation from Dupin. Enjoy!

Joan Miro by Jacques Dupin

Translated and Versioned by Kate Noakes

With his eastward line

Tapered like a sabre

With his unknotted line

Like a fissure

He catches and frees space

Sun’s youth

The bird singing before its birth

And all the snakes in the green sky.

Night pollen glints on his lip:

A soaking of dew.

Gaudi's Barcelona

or how to see lots of his work for free, or, if you must, pay a fortune to go into things.

First we tried to get into Sagrada Familia on Easter Sunday, but there was no way as we hadn't bought tickets in advance, so instead and for nothing, we enjoyed the exterior. It is truly awesome (real meaning of the word), and incredible to think that I may not live long enough to see it finished. Thing is, we should have just said we wanted to go to Mass and then we'd have been in for free without for much as a minute's queuing. Hindsight is wonderful.

Instead we headed for La Pedrera, the total design concept apartment building at Diagonal. Hugely expensive to get in (16.50 euros each!) and just about worth it for the rooftop alone.

Top tip is watch where you are walking as I nearly fell a couple of times as I was too busy taking pictures to note my footing. Some people might say this is typical. Good views of Barcelona of course.

The next free Gaudi is to be found a short walk down the street at Casa Batllo. Soak up the gorgeous exterior, which Dali apparently likened to the tranquil waters of a lake. On two visits to Barcelona I've never managed to go inside, perhaps later in the week.



And finally for today - totally free Gaudi on a grand scale at Parc Guell (except the museum house which is optional). Bring a picnic as the concession stands are exorbitant. Wander about, but don't for one minute expect to have the place to yourself and all your pictures of totemic lizard will be spoiled by 'other people', but that aside, there's loads to admire and you can find your own little quite corner to do that in. The spring garden is a joy - bearded irises and wisteria in full bloom today, parakeets squawking and stupendous views of the city and the Med.

Picasso Museum, Barcelona

After my last post I have clearly had to leave town, for the sun mainly. Nothing gives me greater pleasure than  to read a weather forecast that says Barcelona 22 degrees, Paris 6. Day one of my Easter break in the Catalan capital and we head to the Picasso Museum.

First tip - buy a six museum pass for a mere 30 euros and skip all the queues - perfect. No standing around like a sheep.

The museum is the largest collection of Picasso's work, but if you are expecting weeping women, lots of bull-fighting and sculpture, you will be disappointed.

What you will find is a surprising amount of early work of absolute brilliance: his early portraits of his family and friends are wonderful, and the theatre scenes from turn of the (twentieth) century Paris are lovely.

The painting that spoke most to me this time was Waiting (Margot), probably because she looks as worn out and in need of a holiday as me.

His obsessive work in preparation for Las Meninas is something to see - pity there is no reproduction of the Velasquez to make the comparison, but that's what iphones are for I suppose, as everyone was calling it up on wikipedia.

The museum buildings are actually worth visiting on their own- gorgeous noble houses with courtyards, impressive cellars and intricate carved stone work.

The current special exhibition is of Picasso's ceramics - an  reinvention of the Greek.

Go early to avoid the hoards and try not to spend too much in the gift shop.