There’s a great side trip that you can take from Barcelona. Hop a train for a 1.5 hour ride to Figueres…

 

where you’ll follow the tourists for a ten-minute walk to arrive at El Teatre-Museu Dalí:

 

Salvador Dalí, the great surrealist, was born in this city. The theater that once showcased his works as a young boy now serves as an interactive museum with the greatest collection of his art, even if a lot of the paintings there are reproductions. The building itself is sheer madness, an experience not to be missed by art lovers and haters alike:

 

It’s a great place to take kids because their unfiltered interpretation of his works is exactly the way I believe Dalí would like us to see them, at first blush anyway.   A literal read of his surreal expression is about as counterintuitive as can be, but once you immerse yourself in his world, it is a lot of fun to then decipher all of the messages he’s left for us.

 

For all the paintings, sculptures, and furniture in this place, it’s actually the jewelry exhibit (Dalí Joies) next door that beckons me. This fantastic, permanent collection includes 39 jewels made of gold and precious stones and 27 drawings that accompany some of the jewelry pieces. One of the most famous items is The Royal Heart, a gold heart encrusted with rubies, emeralds, and diamonds. What’s significant about this heart is the fact that it beats; I can’t explain the mechanism behind it but it’s just one of the many clever things that make this visit so fun:

 

Dilly dallying with Dalí is a lovely way to spend a day. I recommend stopping for a slow, late lunch so your head can recuperate from the dizzying experience it just had at the museum before heading back on the train.