In the surreal world of Dalí

Slicing up eyeballs and eccentric dreams

What is the first art piece that comes to mind when you think of Salvador Dalí? The Burning Giraffe, iconic melting watches, the elephants on spindly legs? Maybe Un Chien Andalou that he made with fellow surrealist Luis Buñuel featuring the image of an eye being cut by a razor? In my case it is the Lobster Telephone. This surreal creation was purchased by Tate in 1981. It became an important part of Tate Modern’s collection that I have seen many times when visiting and later living in London. When I moved to Barcelona last year Dalí’s Theatre-Museum in Figueres and his house in Portlligat seemed like great places to start exploring Catalonia.

Dalí's Statue in Cadaques

Dalí’s Statue in Cadaques

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HK Dreamin’

Getting excited about the Chungking Jungle

“You really like sad and weird movies, don’t you?” I heard it from someone, who received a couple of recommendations from me few weeks ago. They were not particularly cheerful or conventional but I have never looked at my taste in films from this perspective and yes of course this can be a way of putting it. I generally struggle to mention my favourites on a spot let alone make sure that I include any shiny happy titles!

Although I often enjoy major Hollywood productions, it is fair to say that a lot of the films that made a great impression on me are not necessarily popular or very well-known. I would certainly add to this list some of early films made by Wong Kar-wai, a Hong Kong director. Happy Together, Chungking Express, In the Mood for Love, just to name few of them. I discovered his visually seducing work when I was still at high school and it now comes back to me as I plan a trip to the city that I admired in his films.

I have always been a big fan of Chungking Express. It is a romantic and quite a crazy story set in the concrete jungle of Hong Kong. I watched it for the first time in a small cinema with a handful of people around me. It was ages ago and I still remember its incredible energy, a memorable and quirky main character called Faye plus the fact that California Dreamin’ is the song she plays on a repeat all the time.

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Around Kathmandu on a microbus

Are you going to Boudhanath?

Once I have seen the main sites located centrally in Kathmandu I ventured out of the city to visit Boudhanath and Pashupatinath Temple. Although hiring a car with a driver or taking a taxi can be an option to get around a capital city of Nepal, I decided to opt for a microbus. It was cheap, quick and very local.

To catch my bus I walked to Kantipath, a busy road in Kathmandu and spent few minutes to find out if any were actually heading toward Boudhanath. There was no official stop or signs in sight. Each microbus was slowing down by the side of a street and I had to quickly grasp what was being shouted out by each young boy announcing the route. If I could not pick it up among the other names I just shouted a question back to make sure they cover my destination on their list of stops.

How many people can you squeeze into a microbus? That was a question that popped into my head when I was already on board. I definitely lost count after the eighth person and decided to exchange polite smiles with a woman and her baby sitting opposite me. A toddler was staring at me with her kohl-painted eyes. I later found out that some Hindu parents paint their children’s eyes black to keep away bad spirits.

The Great Stupa

The Great Stupa

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Wisdom eyes and the temples of Kathmandu

The eyes of Buddha

My first impressions of Kathmandu focused on the dust and the street signage that did not make sense but the lasting ones are very much about everyday spirituality of this city. From day one of my trip I fell in love with it. It was something so extremely different from my European heritage and yet so embracing.

In Kathmandu, even before visiting any temples, you come across daily rituals including prayers and offerings. The all seeing eyes of Buddha, often painted on the stupas and the sound of bells near the temples, situated almost on every corner of the streets amazed me. I found it incredible how Buddhism and Hinduism, the two main religions in Nepal, are an integral part of all the surroundings as well as the life of local people.

The Swayambhunath stupa

The Swayambhunath stupa

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The ancient paths of Priorat

Exploring the land of wine and olives

A weekend away from Barcelona? And we will be walking a lot and hiking? I was in as soon as I heard about this idea and a great place that was considered as our out-of-town destination, a picturesque county of Priorat. It is based in the province of Tarragona that I already had a chance to visit in March so not very far from Barcelona but far enough to feel like a holiday break.

Once three busy ladies were involved it took some time to agree on a suitable weekend that would work for all of us but we managed in the end. Most importantly the dates we picked were also convenient for Aleksandra’s friend, who kindly let us stay in his house in Marçà. Luckily Priotat is easily accessible by train. With Marçà-Falset station situated only a short walk away from the village it was not a problem to find our way even fairly late on Friday night.

Marçà

Marçà

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