My Day at Montserrat

Montserrat is a holy place in Catalonia, both for the monastery with its revered monks and because it houses one of the patron saints of the territory: The Virgin of Montserrat. The setting, high in the craggy rocky mountain tops, shrouded in mist, along with breathtaking views and beautiful little hidden paths make this a very enjoyable and worthwhile day out of Barcelona.

View from the base train station looking up toward the monastery.

After a 10 minute (slow) train ride, we were at the top. This is the backside of the basilica.

The front of the basilica. Mass was scheduled for 20 minutes later so we had to boogie to get inside to see the Black Madonna.

The path to the Virgin of Montserrat.

Just a few more steps, you can see the statue there at the top.

The Virgin of Montserrat, also called La Moreneta or the Black Madonna. This statue was discovered on Montserrat in the 11th century and has since been housed there.

She's mostly enclosed in glass except for the small part of the sphere in her hand. It is customary to kiss it or touch it for a blessing. While I'm not religious, I figured I could use all the luck I could get. I kissed it.

The view of the church from the Madonna's vantage point.

Next I decided to venture to the very top of the mountain. In this picture you can see the cable car line that takes people up- it's between the two rocky crags off to the left.

The very top of Montserrat.

One of the other singletons on the tour, Gabriel from Hungary who lives in the Netherlands. It was nice to have somebody to pal around with, even just for the day.

I believe this is a northwestern view from atop the mountain.

Me and my hunter orange safety scarf. Nobody shot at me so I must be doing something right.