WINTER, WARHOL & WARM WISHES.

Date day/Wang winter.

B train.

American Museum of Natural History.

Metropolitan Museum of Art.

From the Faraway, Nearby - Georgia O'Keeffe. 

Black Abstraction - Georgia O'Keeffe, 1927. 

"Peacock" Chair - Dror Benshetrit, 2009. 

Can you see him? 

Being a bad girl and sneaking photos in the Regarding Warhol exhibit.

His ... Silver Clouds - Andy Warhol.

Stepping Out - Roy Lichtenstein, 1978. 

Us, barely.

Spectrum V - Ellsworth Kelly, 1969.

Untitled - Franz Kline, 1952.

Nijinsky - Franz Kline, 1950.

Love loving my other love, Rothko.

Concord - Barnett Newman, 1949.

Number 28, 1950 - Jackson Pollock, 1950.

Boyfriend.

Oval Form with Strings and Color - Barbara Hepworth, 1966.

Attic - Willem de Kooning, 1949.

Dusasa II - El Anatsui, 2007.

Us, distorted, multiplied.

Saint Patrick's Cathedral.

The Tree @ Rockefeller Center.

I know that it has been such a long while since I've blogged and I apologize for the hiatus, but I just hadn't felt inspired to up until now. I've been dying to visit the Met to see the Regarding Warhol exhibit, and finally got the chance to just a few days before it comes to a close. In short, it's worth it. It was the first time I was able to see a Basquiat in person (his Head painting), a number of never-before-seen Warhol pieces, the Chanel Chainsaw by Tom Sachs and other works by artists such as Cindy Sherman, Nan Goldin, Jeff Koons, and many more. The exhibit ends on December 31st, so I apologize for taking my time with this, but if given the chance, check it out! After yummy lunch at Shake Shack, we stumbled into Saint Patrick's Cathedral - It was my first time actually entering the Cathedral... Beautiful to say the least, I'm also grateful that I didn't burst into flames upon entry. Lastly, we visited the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, always recommended, at least just to take a peek at once every year.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season!

XO

THE SUN RAYS OF SPAIN IN THE SUMMER.

Hi darlings!
The time has finally come...
I've battled my procrastination and worked up enough
patience to present this picture heavy recap of my trip to Spain.
I left on August 16th and returned on August 24th.
While we were there, we visited Barcelona, Girona, Figueres and Cadeques.
It all started here...

My Momma's idea of packing... In her office.

Drinks at the airport, of course.

Landed in Barcelona around 9:30am and checked into The Mirror.
We stayed here for one night and enjoyed it.
Beautiful hotel, extremely modern, but very odd room layout.

For our first dinner, we decided to eat at Taller de Tapas.
Before the trip, I stumbled across this place via Yelp and bookmarked it.
Luckily for us, it was right down the strip from our first hotel...

Started the trip off right with a pitcher of Sangria.

Mixed salad.

Patatas bravas.

Grilled asparagus.

Chicken skewers.

Steak.

Chocolate sin with red berry coulis for dessert.

To become acquainted with the city,
on the first night there, we decided to take the tour bus for a ride.

Gaudi's La Pedrera.

Entertained by the fountain and light show.

Light-up toys for all.

Woke up early the next morning and had a simple breakfast before hitting the road
towards the medieval city of Girona - A croissant and strawberry banana frozen yogurt.

Time to rent the car...

It took about an hour and 40 minutes to get from Barcelona to Girona.
A road trip that was well worth it.

Approaching the center of Girona.

One of the most enjoyable views.

The streets of the city were narrow and personal,
some dark with the sun rays peeking through.

Everything was built of stone and there were long,
wide stairwells leading up and down the hilly, cobblestone streets.

I had anticipated seeing the Arab Baths and luckily for us,
we walked right into it as soon as we entered the center of the city.
One of the most beautiful sites I'd seen throughout the entire trip.

The most beautiful sun rays and their shadows.

Shaky stairwells always seem to be worth the risk.

All within walking distance of eachother, now onto the Museu d'Art de Girona.
A small collection and practically non-existent gift shop, but I'm glad I gave it a chance.
Mostly religious and medieval art, including some beautiful tile work and strong sculpture.

Something I had never seen before -
A section of the museum dedicated to the different mediums that artists use.
Every material was displayed in it's natural form, along with explanations.
Interesting information, especially for an art history major.

The Cathedral of Girona.

Not religious, but felt inclined to light a few candles.

After visiting the Cathedral, it was time do a little shopping -
I purchased some fine crafted hair accessories, a pair of shoes, crystals,
a Himalayan pink salt lamp - Nothing too extreme.

Time for dinner...

If Tortellini is on the menu, I order it.
No matter what.

Just a simple cheese pizza to end the evening.
Can't really go wrong with that!

Once we finished eating, we headed to our hotel - NH Girona,
we had an early morning ahead of us.

Lay's Western chips that are only available in Spain, apparently.
Tasted like BBQ directly off the grill, so weird but delicious!

The next morning we headed to Figueres, the hometown of Salvador Dali,
which was about 40 minutes away from Girona.
Once we reached Figueres, we needed to eat and decided to give La Tagliatella a chance.
It's an Italian restaurant chain that we kept running into everywhere we visited.
We were very pleased.

Tomato, onion and olive breadsticks.

Carpaccio napoletano - Fresh tomato, basil, mozzarella and grilled eggplant.
Only word to describe this: AMAZING.

I had the Tortellone Caprese (filled with mozzarella, tomato and basil) in a 4 Formaggi sauce.
Too remarkable.

Finally onto Salvador Dali heaven, starting with the courtyard...

The entrance to the Theater-Museum Dali.

The tomb of a genius.

The Mae West room.

Barcelona Mannequin - Salvador Dali, 1926.

I guess it would have been inappropriate to jump on Dali's bed,
so I refrained.

Holos! Holos! Velazquez! Gabor - Salvador Dali/Selwyn Lissack.

Amazing ceiling piece by Salvador Dali, himself.

The center courtyard, filled with sculptures and artistic accents.

Once completing the sites of Dali, we decided to head
towards Cadeques, which is a beach town about 30 minutes away.

To reach Cadeques, we had to drive up and through the
mountains which was scary, but such a beautiful experience!

Tribute sculpture to Salvador Dali.

First time in the Mediterranean.

Pistachio and chocolate gelato before heading back to Girona.

The Cathedral of Girona, last night there.
The following morning, we headed back towards Barcelona...

Tour bus litterbugs, shame.

Port Vell.

The Olympic Port, the torch where the Olympic flame burned.

Barcelona Head - Roy Lichtenstein, 1992.

The Cathedral of Barcelona.
Definitely the most impressive architecture I got to experience while visiting.

Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona.
This was definitely my favorite museum in Barcelona -
Everything from the exhibitions to the crowd to the vibes, I enjoyed.
I always feel most at home when I visit contemporary museums around the world.
Felt the same connection to the modern/contemporary art museum in Paris last year.

Some Objects of Desire - Lawrence Weiner, 2004.

Composition in Black and White - Luis Claramunt, 1974.

Composition - Luis Claramunt, 1973.

Utopia is Possible. ICSID. Eivissa, 1971.
Fell deeply in love with this exhibition, it was the perfect start to the museums
and an artistic monumental highlight of my entire trip.

Films, 1971/2012.

Upon exiting this exhibition, my camera died, so I took advantage of the fact
that I had two film cameras on me. Those photos should be up within the next two
weeks... I haven't even brought them to be developed yet. Shame on me.
Afterwards, we browsed the neighborhood then headed back to where we were staying...
In El Born, a cute little two bedroom apartment with a terrace overlooking
the vivid and refreshingly local area.
Would be comparable to our Lower East Side, so I was right where I belonged.

The next morning, I was lucky enough to meet up with my beautiful friend, Robyn.
She spent the entire month of August in Europe, and fortunately our schedules aligned!
In the morning, we walked to Barceloneta, where she was staying, to hit the beach for a few hours.
The water was so perfect, I never wanted to leave.

After soaking up some sun and drying off,
we stopped by the beach bar for smoothies and guacamole nachos.

Raced back to the apartment and iChatted back home with the lovely Gillian,
before heading towards Gracia for the Festa Major de Gracia,
which is a local fair where the people of the neighborhood decorate their own streets.
It was so creative and inspiring, I couldn't put my camera away!

Girls!

Time for a strawberry mojito break.

Such entertainment, the streets were bursting with culture
and then it was time for dinner...
We skimmed the neighborhood which had too many options to choose from
and finally decided to settle on Greek cuisine at Dionisis...

Mine.

Robyn's.

Momma's.

The next morning, we got an early start and
ventured around the corner into the Museu Picasso.
Although their collection featured more of his early works and
was fairly small in size, I was able to see his Las Meninas (After Velazquez),
which is more of a masterpiece that I had ever imagined.

Then a few steps further down into the Museum of Modern Art (MEAM).

Antroporcino - Gerard Mas.

Mer - Aida.

Nonato - Andres Lasanta Jimeno.

Mujer de sal - Ana Rosenzweig.

Dresden - Marti Teixidor.

Aine - Xesus Mendez Padin.

This just reminded me of my best friend.

For lunch, we got pizza from this little place across the street...
Just the best pizza I've ever had in my life.
The spinach, brie and olive slice was immaculate and
the mint lemonade was the perfect touch to the meal.

Completed our museum hopping for the day with the Fundacio Joan Miro.
Photos were not allowed, but I learned so much from their collection about Miro
and his life - I would definitely recommend anybody who is into modern art visit.

Colorful sculptures and beautiful views from the balcony.

On Thursday, our last day before leaving Barcelona,
we finished our museum hopping with the Museu Nacional d'Art de Calatunya (MNAC).

In my opinion, Barcelona's most impressive museum architecture.

One of my favorite pieces:
Salvador - Pere Joan, 1434 - 1445.

Mare de Deu de la Llet - Segon Mestre d'Estopanya, circa 1450.

Crist amb la Creu - El Greco, 1590-1595.

Apostols del grup de la Dormicio de la Mare de Deu - Damia Forment i collaboradors, 1534-1537.

El triompf del Dia sobre la Nit precedit de l'Aurora - Antoni Caba, 1882.

Lucrecia - Damia Campeny, 1803.

L'edat de bronze - Auguste Rodin, 1876.

Repos - Josep Clara, 1929.

Estival - Jaume Otero, 1926/Jardi classic - Francesc Labarta, 1911.

Confident - Antoni Gaudi, 1904-1906.

Reixat de dos batents de la Casa Vincens - Antoni Gaudi, 1883-1885.

Vitrina d'aparador exterior i cadira de bracos - Josep Lluis Sert, 1934.

The last day, experiencing the most beautiful views overlooking the city.

The Mies van der Rhoe Pavillion.

Last bus ride home.

You know that we can't leaving without sweets to bring back.

And once again, Italian for dinner...
Caprese salad.

Caesar salad with chicken.

Ravioli.

Four cheese gnocchi.

And that concludes my documentation of my summer trip to Spain, for now. I plan to get my film photos developed by next week and have those up within the next two, so please hang in there! All in all, I enjoyed the trip... but I'm not sure that I'd ever return to Barcelona - For me, it was dirty, too much pointless vandalism that was too amateur to be considered "street art", not enough city maintenance and lastly, there was just an all-around negative tone. Coming from NYC, that just isn't the vibe that I travel for. Although, I did enjoy the food, the art and a nice amount of the architecture! I do believe that it was possible that I visited at a bad time, and for that reason, I'd possibly give it another chance, just not during the summer. Generally, I love Spain - Girona, Figueres and Cadeques were too beautiful for words. I do plan to return to Spain in the future - Probably to re-visit Madrid and see Cordoba and Ibiza. I haven't gotten around to writing any Yelp reviews yet, so that's also on my to-do list for next week, but for now...

Hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading!
XO