Figueres

After a month in Barcelona I was ready to leave the city and begin my trek across the Eurasian continent. The first stop was a little town called Figueres. It is located fairly close to the Spanish-French border and conveniently placed ~15 miles from the Spanish Riviera.

I felt relieved by the scarcity of people upon exiting the train station. Barcelona, with its 2 million plus inhabitants, felt crowded at times. Here, there was a sense of openness and a slower pace of life that accompanies small towns mostly anywhere. The hostel was a close 5 minute walk away, and very accommodating. What I find amazing is how Europeans quickly adapt technology into their everyday life to reduce energy costs and increase overall efficiency. For instance, in this hostel, the lights of the hallways were activated by laser sensors located above the door of every room on the ceiling. This way, if you happened to be going out at night, the hallways would light up as soon as you walked out and the lights would turn off a few minutes later. Also, in the rooms, a keycard was needed to activate any lights or outlets. Next to the door was a slot for the keycard, so when left the room, you could not leave anything on because you had to take your keycard with you. These are ideas that I hope catch on in America, where our abhorrent waste of energy is fueling criticism that Americans are the most wasteful people on the planet.

Figueres is famous because it is the hometown of surrealist mastermind Salvidore Dali. His museum is the centerpiece of the town. The only description I have for it is a walk-in mindfuck. Before the cascade of photos I will now post, I would just like to say that this experience made me add surrealism to my list of favorite art forms, but was unable to top my love for impressionism. Here are examples of his works, including the famous melting clocks, a crazy look through a large lens that creates the perfect scene, and video of moving pictures:






The night before departing I took a constitutional through a large park. For the first time since leaving the US I felt completely safe, and walked about with god-like impunity. Not a soul was to be seen, and no cameras gazed their ominous eyes down upon me. I had wondered whether I could still find a slice of solace, and indeed I had. I soaked up the feelings, and the sensations brought on by the crispness of the air and the twinkling of the starry night. Figueres surpassed my expectations, and landed a place on my list of places to return one day.