For our last day in Barcelona before catching a 6pm flight home we got free tickets to the Picasso Museum. Finally something that was free. We took a taxi down to the area close to the Xocolata Museum. It was on a small alley street and sits in an old medieval castle and has over 4200 of his paintings, drawings and ceramics. We were glad to have reserved tickets online to avoid the lines. The tickets for us into the main collection and the temporary Kitchen exhibit. He temporary exhibit was all of his photos dealing with food, drink, salons where food and drink were served. It was quite good. The main collection was quite large but we did not see all 4200. One section contained about 30 different pieces all connected to Las Minenas. You could see him practicing, attempting different ways of bringing a portion of the painting to life. One of the rooms contained a Caezanne, Manet and Renior. We learned that the Museum has loaned some of his pieces to the Paris Museum de Orsay in exchange for these pieces. I think we were all most impressed by the variety of work he had painted – from portraits, cubism, abstract and water scenes. One painting of a woman named Jacqueline had about 6 different versions. Many times they had the sketch or drawings right next to the painting. It was cool to see the before and after.

We had to stop at the gift shop on our way out to buy a few trinkets. Then we meandered down the street shopping, Throughout the trip, MyLisa was on the hunt for the best dark chocolate and coffee ice cream. Today Sophie found the nest coffee, but yesterday she found the best chocolate. We had lunch at a cute restaurant (empanadas, squid, hummus and bread), and caught a taxi back to the apt to finish packing. We all agreed Barcelona s is a beautiful city. We got lucky with La Mercè, ate very well, and loved the art, architecture and culture.