"A hot-pink logo. A giant sculpture of a Smurf posing like Frankenstein’s monster in the courtyard. And a mirrored room where hundreds of dangling diamonds change color as you walk inside. Have you got all of that? Barcelona's Moco Museum is a riot–of colors, of styles, of pushing artistic boundaries. Mainly, of joy. It may be next door to the Picasso Museum, but you’re about as far away from Picasso’s melancholic blue period as you can get. Here’s the thing: you cannot be bored here. The majority crowd is young, cool and scene-y: wearing outfits intentionally curated for the visit, with bodies contorted into angles to snap the best social-media content. After all, aesthetic impact is kind of the point of this place. Don’t be fooled though; museumgoers are very much here for the art. Discussions with animated hand gestures try to unpick what’s on the walls, while many works provoke a long-linger. Even if you hit 10,000 steps by lunchtime, Moco’s fluorescent, lively, reaction-provoking collection is a guaranteed perk-you-up. Yes, even if you’ve been known to yawn at the word “museum”. One last hack: tickets for time slots before 11am and after 6pm are cheaper." - Gemma Askham
