Montserrat Day Trip

One day, we decided to take the train to Montserrat and see what the deal was.  I wanted to give Adam a chance to bird watch and see some of the country side.

The day started early, for a vacation, and we were out the door and moving by 9 am.  The train was fairly easy to find and take, but finding the last platform was a bit tricky...  You really do need to have lots of time like the travel sites advise.

The train takes about an hour from Barcelona to Montserrat, and then the funicular takes another 5-8 minutes.  There are several other ways up the hill, but if you can stand for that time, I'd take the funicular again!

The morning was foggy, and as we went up the hill in the cable car we saw this...

 And this...

It was not super impressive.  But then we got through the fog layer and saw this...

And this...

This...

And this...

Much more impressive, right?

We walked up to the monastery and took a chance on a long line...

I loved the way the stained glass was making the wall look here. 
 

This stairway had lousy light, but this is saint Caecilia... made me think of my own Cecilia!

At the end of the hall, we saw the statue of the blessed virgin.  You can see what she looks like here.  There was an advisement to not take photos in the shrine area, so this next shot is looking back at the ceiling of the shrine...  It is COVERED in gold mosaics.

Leaving the shrine area, there were candles for prayers.

Adam and I sat in the courtyard and planned what to do.  I was suffering from a terrible cold, grouchy, and not feeling like doing anything, so he took a hike to look for birds.

As we were leaving, we got to see what the hill looks like without all of the fog.

 And then we sat for a few minutes awaiting the train back to Barcelona.