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For train lovers a visit to the beautiful Estació de França is a must. This station lies in the district known as Arrel del Born (Avenida Marquès de lArgentera, s/n). What was once Barcelonas main station now receives only a few long-haul trains, but after its facelift it has become a multipurpose exhibition and tradefair venue.
Entering the station from Calle Ocata we can go down to the basement site of the Friends of the Railway Association. Here there are various working circuits of miniature trains and exhibits of real pieces such as signals and beacons, etc. Each month train trips are organised.
Magic BCN (paseo Lluís Companys, 10-12) is an attraction conceived for children in which everything is related to the world of trains. The gift shop sells all sorts of railway-related objects and books.
In La Pobla de Lillet, about one hour from Barcelona by car, is the Museu del Transport del Clot del Moro, where several antique trains are exhibited. The Museu del Ferrocarril de Vilanova i la Geltrú shows Europes biggest exhibition of locomotives, from steam engines to modern diesel trains and also runs an interesting audiovisual on the history of trains.
Some there are who might find a liking for cemeteries morbid, but graveyards are in fact a part and parcel of any city and tell us much about them. Furthermore, some of them are frankly beautiful, such as Montjuïc cemetery in Barcelona (Bus 637) or the PoblenouCemetery (Metro Llacuna-L4). The family pantheons or mausoleums are built in keeping with the architectural style of the time, making them a compendium of the styles that can be seen throughout the city.
The Museu de la Xocolata, (Calle Comerç, 36. Metro, Arc de Triomf-L1) gives us an exhibition of the chocolate manufacturing process. The interesting shop El rey de la magia (Calle Princesa, 11. Tel.: 933 197 393) has also set up a chocolate museum at Calle Oli, 6. The Museu de lEròtica (La Rambla, 96) exhibits erotic art and curious sexual gadgets of today and yesterday. The Museo del Cómic y la Ilustración (Calle Santa Carolina, 25. Metro Guinardó-L4) exhibits the material built up by the collectors who created this museum, with classic comics such as the Hombre Enmascarado, Roberto Alcazar y Pedrín or Mortadelo y Filemón.
The Museo del Calzado (Pl. Sant Felip Neri, 5) is a small locale on the secluded Plaza del Barri Gòtic exhibiting reproductions of footwear and real shoes from the second century onwards. There are also shoes of illustrious personages such as Pau Casals or Charlie Rivel.
One of the most fetching exhibitions is the one displayed in the Museu dAutòmats, a museum of mechanical gadgets in the Tibidabo Funfair.
© Alhena Media
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