Montserrat

Phil had hired a car as part of his exploration of Catalonia.  He was returning the car soon now that he was in Barcelona with us.  With a few days left, we thought it would be nice to do a day trip out of Barcelona to see some of the surrounding regions.  Having just come from a beach resort town, we decided to go to the exact opposite and head towards the mountains.  I had done some research on day trips from Barcelona, and a name that kept coming up was Montserrat.  A short drive from Barcelona and it was an important part of the culture of Catalonia.  It seemed perfect for us.

Early in the morning, I set off out of the hotel myself.  With the baby Pickle, we needed a car seat for the drive.  I had found a place that would rent a car seat, but it was a high price and a twenty minute walk away.  In hindsight, give the cost, it may have even been better to have just bought a second hand seat, but this was more certain.  So off I went on my early morning walk.  The streets were calm and empty.  The light of the day was still only beginning and everything looked gentler and softer.  It was a nice walk.  It gave me a completely different appreciation for Barcelona, different from the usual crowded and busy streets. 

With the car seat obtained, Phil drove his car over to our hotel.  After the expected struggle to install it, we set off on our journey.  Pickle cried a bit, then very promptly fell asleep to the motions of the car.  Getting out of the city was easy, with only minor traffic.  We were soon on the highway heading to Montserrat.  Or rather we were heading to the famous abbey at the top of Montserrat, given the name applied to the mountains in the area.  We arrived near the base of the mountain, parked the car and then took the "rack rail" which slowly climbed up the steep terrain to the base of the abbey.  The views from out the windows were incredible.  Completely unimpeded, we could see far off into the distance.  Looking up, we could see the strange rocky formations of Montserrat reaching up towards the sky.

The abbey itself wasn't just a single building.  It was a series of different buildings, churches and structures.  There were restaurants, museums, vantage points.  Much more than I had expected to see.  We went through the small museum and gallery.  There wasn't much to it other than a few paintings that freaked out Veronica.  We went back to the main square near the church.  It offered the best views of the surrounding mountains.

We were hungry, so I searched for a restaurant.  We walked past a sad looking cafeteria style type of restaurant.  It didn't appeal to us.  I kept searching and found a far nicer, though far more expensive restaurant further back from the church.  It was a dark and old school restaurant.  Food served on square plates and decor that felt like it had been modern in the 90s.  We sat down for what would be a longer than expected lunch.  The food was good, with many options recommended to us as being more "regional" specialities that weren't so commonly found.  With a nice bottle of wine, we settled in.  Pickle slept and we enjoyed our time.

Our timing was perfect.  Once we finished our meal, it was time for us to enter into the church.  We had booked our tickets in advance, but all entry was based on time slots.  We entered into the main courtyard.  With the stairs and narrow corridors, we were told it would be too difficult for us to bring the baby Pickle with us.  Instead, we decided to take turns going in to look at the church and the relics.

At the back, after walking up a series of fairly steep stairs which became increasingly narrow, we made it to the very back, where the "Virgin of Montserrat" was kept.  It's a small statute.  Very old and made in a style which seems out of place compared to the surroundings.  Apparently, the claim is that the church was actually built around the statue and that this was a place of worship long predating the Christian era.

After visiting the church and the relics, we took the funicular (always a fun word to say) up the mountain.  The views up and down were incredible as we rose up above the surrounding peaks which had enclosed where we had been.   

At the top, we went for a walk.  With baby Pickle in his stroller, the hike up and down was a combination of intense work out, exhilaration and mild danger.  At certain points, the steepness meant I was effectively using my entire body wait to push up against the stroller to push it up the hill.  Each time we walked around a corner, we had another lovely view to look at.  With nothing else in the way, you could see out far off into the distance, even as far as the ocean.  We had to be careful though as well.  The wind would pick up and even as baby Pickle slept, we could see the stroller being gently shaken by the strong breeze.

This visit to Montserrat wasn't exactly what I expected.  I enjoyed myself.  The views were incredible and the church and its relics were also beautiful.  It wasn't a quick trip though.  This was a visit that took up most of the day.  Were I to be asked about it by other travellers, I would probably say to them that it is only worth the visit if you had the luxury of time like we had.