Barcelona Day 5

Montserrat, with its unique rock formations, dramatic mountain monastery, and connection with the Catalan people and their struggles, is a popular day trip from Barcelona (30 miles away).

The Shrine of Our Lady Monastry at Montserrat

Montserrat has been Catalunya's most important pilgrimage site for a thousand years. Hymns explain how this "serrated mountain" was carved by little angels with golden saws. Geologists prefer to blame 10 million years of nature at work. While only 2,400 feet above sea level, the mountains seem higher as they rocket right up from the river valley.

The monastery is Benedictine. Its monks (around 80 today) wear the Benedictine rope belts with three knots (symbolizing the three rules of St. Benedict: poverty, chastity, and obedience). Since 1025, the slogan "ora et labora" (prayer and work) pretty much sums up life for a monk here on the serrated mountain.

Access to the monastery is via train and cable car, with the option of additional funicular train rides from the site of the monastery. Here’s the last stage of our trip up there...

Out voted on the cable car vs funicular decision!

 and our first look around the site…..

Look how steep that funicular on the left is.

and the monastery.......

Beautiful

We decided to go for a bit of a hike instead of catching the funicular further up the mountain. It was steep, really steep and even the kids stopped bounding around at one stage.

Good thing the railings are there.

The views were spectacular along the way…..

Spectacular

Lunch on top of the world

Wildlife included some birdies, some (not at all wild) cats and the absolute highlight – mountain goats, perched so very perilously on the rock face!

Such a friendly kitty cat, and those goats! Amazing!

One thousand, two hundred and ninety nine steps down and we're almost down......

View of the monastery on the way back.

Then back in Barcelona it was dinner time.  Another try with Spanish cuisine and no luck again!  Seafood paella and seafood fideua (similar dish to paella but made with noodles instead of rice) and both very very ordinary L  Good thing the location was such a winner J

Great location