Europe 2016: Barcelona and Montserrat

Montserrat. When I decided to travel to Barcelona, it was a sure thing I'd make a day trip to Montserrat, and it was worth every moment. We took the subway to a train out of the city, and traveled through some not very attractive areas. Then all of a sudden the landscape changed. the mountains were spires of stone emerging from low clouds with lush green all around. Beautiful.

The highest peak is 1236 meters high, called St Jerome. In the 9th century there was evidence that this site was of religious importance. In 1025 a small monestary was founded. The Monestary continued expanding including printing workshops and a library. In 1811 the monestary was destroyed, including the library. It was expanded through the years since and there are more than 3,000 books and a full publishing house.

Mountain, Monestary, sanctuary.

When we got there we decided to go up the funicular and the views were spectacular. We hiked up to a small structure of St Joan which sadly was closed so we decided it was a trick to get the tourists to hike more and buy water in the monestary. :) The views were incredible though and worth the climb. We then went back down, and after some funny selfie moments where a girl from Malaysia was taking a pic that got me in it (so I did the obligatory goofy face!) She laughed so hard she took another and then the entire car full of South Africans, a token America and a Swede all jumped into the selfies and we had a good laugh.

We wandered around the cathedral and basilica and the line to the Virgin of Montserrat, the 'black' virgin mary, was incredibly long so we decided to skip it and saw it at a distance in the cathedral. We took in the views of the place then decided to head back. What a lovely trip!!

The trip back was easy, consisting of two trains and two subway rides with a short walk. We took some time (I napped for an hour and Marie shopped) then decided to eat our way through Barcelona! We stopped in a tapas place we kept looking at and didn't go to previously called Tapeo. yum! there was an incredible veggie dish, and we had a flank steak with churrasco, and octopus, which was surprisingly tender! And a great white sangria. Then we walked a bit and went to another and got a cheese plate, ceviche and some wine and really enjoyed it. On the way we saw a middle eastern place with baklava and assorted sweets and bought a few things. We snacked on some once we returned to our apartment. It rained a bit when we were inside and it was nice and cool when we got out. Yay! A break from the humidity for now.

This area is so wonderful, and I so recommend the Born district (part of the Gothic district) for people to stay in. Our apartment is small but comfortable, clean and incredibly quiet for the location. We are a two minute walk to at least 15 restaurants, a grocery store, and everything you could need. It's lovely! And right next to a really beautiful church. Can't be beat.

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