Day Trip to Montserrat

Sean has to rock out the tech-ness on Mondays, so after a brief repast back at the casa, I hopped on the train to Montserrat to see what I could see. I was much more interested in the actual MOUNTAIN than the Basilica, and as my time was limited, that's what I did. I rode the Aeri up, and the Cremellaria (train) down. I was wonderfully lucky to have the Aeri gondola all to myself and could hang out the window like a dog, sniffing the air. I ran into 3 wonderful Dutch women who pointed me to a trail that was 'off the beaten' path, and got some wonderful views in my 3 hour time frame. I would love to think I'll get back there again before we leave Europe. It was so wonderful to be clamboring up a canyon with wrens singing and the wind whipping around. The plant life was fascinating, the views heady indeed. Getting that sweaty felt good too. The journey is a whole different post. Oy. Here are a few images from the mountain. Apparently Montserrat was the only church which continued to hold Mass in Catalan throughout Franco's Reign. It has become a symbol of national pride almost separate from it's religious importance. All my language teachers have a family story about Montserrat -- I'm thrilled I made it up, at least once.