CosmoCaixa (Science Museum) and the Picasso Museum

Whew! Another good, but busy and tiring day. Today my friend and I went to the science museum, which is called CosmoCaixa after the bank that sponsors it (La Caixa). It was a little tricky to get there, but not so tricky as to explain why no one I've talked to had been there. Some people, as I mentioned, hadn't even heard of it. Anyway, it exists:


It's more targeted at kids than some science museums, but we still had a great time, even though we were the only ones our age who were there. It was free to get in, thanks to the free first Sunday of the month deal. Not that paying would have been that big of a deal, since even the full adult rate is 3 euros. Look who we ran into when we walked in:

He's made of wax. It's actually kind of creepy, because you can't tell at first.

Anyway, it's a pretty good museum! For the most part, they had everything in Catalan, Spanish, and English. Allow me to get a little nerdy. There was a really cool numbers exhibit that sort of started at 1 and went up (and occasionally down, or other directions), showing many important numbers and why they're important. The golden ratio, pi, e, a googol, 9 to the 9th to the 9th, i, and more. Also, it had some interesting visual aids, but unfortunately my camera eats batteries and it was only working very sporadically, so no number exhibit pictures. My favorite thing at the musuem was an interactive exhibit that played music and sound depending on where you positioned a bunch of blocks:

It's a lot like that (online?) game called Auditorium, but it's got more functions. I liked it a lot, and so did all the kids swarming over it. There were also cool exhibits on ancient versus modern technology, waves, a random block of ice, robotics, the history of the Earth, oh yeah, and a rainforest! With an aquarium part! Here are some pictures:

That fish is way bigger than I am, even though it's hard to tell. I could have spent a lot more time at the science museum, but my friend wanted to make sure to see the Picasso Museum as well (understandably), so we headed back into town. We got falafels at Maoz on La Rambla for lunch, and a yummy kiwi smoothie between there and the Picasso Museum.

There was a huge line at the Picasso Museum, which I had not expected, but mostly because I hadn't thought about it. Luckily, the line moved pretty quickly and we got inside without much hassle. They don't allow photos in the museum, but here's the front:

And here's a picture of Picasso's version of Velázquez's Las Meninas, taken very surreptitiously:

The original Las Meninas is in the Prado Museum in Madrid, and I saw it last year when my dad and I were there. It was cool to have seen both the original and Picasso's version of it, because, while they're obviously nothing alike, I can still see how Picasso modeled his version off of the original.

Interestingly, there were also some photographs of Picasso in the museum, which is something I'm not used to. Often artists will do a self portrait, but it's very different if it's a painting, even if it's very lifelike or realistic. Real photographs were cool to see, but Picasso didn't look like what I expected. I'm not sure what I expected, though.

After we finished at the museum, we had a little more time before we had to head back so my friend could go to the airport. We decided to check out the Parc de la Cuitadella, which was nearby. It's a nice, big park, and it has some museums on its edges, including a natural history/zoological museum in a building called Castell dels Tres Dragons (Castle of the Three Dragons):

Then we took the metro back, I walked my friend to the train station, came back and hung out with my roommate for a little while, did laundry, and wrote all this. Now I think I will eat some dinner and get to bed!

Also, I'm planning for Sevilla for next weekend, so if you have any suggestions, please tell me!