We left the apartment in Barcelona early this morning as it slowly began to rain. En route to our "home away from home" in Ambialet, we met with the group at the Dali museum in Spain. With little more than a "follow the signs" to direct us, the journey to the museum proved to be rather difficult.
After a series of wrong turns down one way streets and stopping for directions, we finally found the Dali museum. Mom & Lori got out while Dad and I went off in search fo a place to park. As the weather continued to decline into monsoon-like conditions, we grew increasingly aware of the hopelessness of ever finding a spot.
Miraculously, there was one open parking space in the entire city and we found it! Granted, parking a car with a stick shift, on a slope, in monsoon-like conditions is a daunting task, but Dad did a superb job. We had finally found a parking space 9 blocks from the museum... lucky us.
Amazingly, the moment we exited the vehicle, the monsoon got even worse! Before today, I honestly did not believe that such an amount of water could possibly fall from the sky. Even with my trusty umbrella, I got completely soaked.
So much water had already fallen from the sky that a small, but angry, river had formed in the middle of the street. As I waded through the rushing liquid, my flip-flop was taken ferociously down the hill. "Oh no!" I cried, "My shoe!"
In all his heroic glory, Dad dove into the rushing stream to rescue my fallen shoe. All hope for an inch of dryness on his clothes lost in one fateful leap... but my shoe was saved.
The 2 soaked Lynches finally reached the meeting place at a small restaurant just outside the Dali museum. My meal was rather tasty and its warmth was quite welcoming after my harsh journey through the rivers and monsoon.
After lunch, still completely soaked from head to toe, I visited the much anticipated museum (I find Dali's work to be incredibly interesting). How many people can say they went to an awesome museum after wading through a river in a Spanish monsoon? Well, at least 2 by my count...
Ah, the Dali museum. Quite possibly home to one of the most interesting collections of art I have ever encountered. Sadly, I never got the opportunity to fully enjoy the experience this time around.
Apparently, there are no fire codes in this portion of Spain. If there were, the enforcers of the code would have made a hefty sum from the fines collected. There were so many people crammed into the small museum that, had a fire broken out, hundreds would have perished... not me of course, I was carrying enough water in my clothing that I could have doused the flames myself, but still WAY TOO MANY PEOPLE!
Luckily for the mass quantity of dry people in the museum, there was no fire... just a complete lack of room for one to stop and admire anything. The pushing, shoving, and an increasingly evident desire to punch someone in the face quickly grew old so I opted to leave the area.
After a very quick stop at the gift shop to pick up a book about the museum I almost saw, I waited for the rest of the group in a slightly less crowded hallway near the exit.
As we made our way out, the monsoon had finally trickled into a simple downpour. Dad retrieved the car (I'm still amazed that he found it) and we made our way back to the Priory through the storm.
I hope to return to the Dali museum one day. Preferrably on a day with better weather and fewer people. Even with the weather and over-crowded museum, I can't complain. It was an interesting experience.
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