The GCW Tour, Spain & Morocco: Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya

The XS probably could've warned her, but today was the niece's introduction to the ordeal known as "going to an art museum with (Uncle) John." I really like art museums, and tend to want to see everything they contain. This makes for a long, slow tour through the rooms. It's particularly bad when the museum is particularly good. 

The Catalan Art Museum is a great art museum. 

I've seen a lot of the biggies, and I'd put it up there with the d'Orsay in Paris. The building it's in is amazing. The way they've refurbished the interior is amazing. The way they've installed the art is amazing. Most notably, the upper floor where they display their collection of modern art is organized in a ring that walks you through the various periods and has some pretty helpful multi-lingual blurbs that make for a nicely educational tour. Even more impressive, the Romanesque section on the main floor contains an unbelievable number of frescoes that were taken out of crumbling churches and installed in the museum. The way they've accomplished this has to be seen to be believed. 

Dave spent the tour in the coat check room, so he wasn't available to play tour guide, but here are a few highlights nonetheless. 

The Building...

 

Sample of the Medieval Art Collection...

Sample of the Modern Art Collection...