Montserrat

Last Saturday we visited Montserrat. It is about 40 km out of Barcelona and well worth the trip. Montserrat was/is a retreat of the Benedictine monks. It houses the 'Black Virgin' that was supposedly brought there by St Peter and is the home of the apparently famous Boy's Choir, although they were on holiday when we were visiting. In the time we had available we only managed to visit the cathedral, but there were other areas that maybe one day we will get back to.
We are going right up there.

The ride up to the mountain top was extraordinary and provided stunning views of the surrounding area - why didn't it feel that way coming down? The day was quite hazy, but the views still spectacular. As we neared the rock formations they were overwhelming beautiful.

Aeri de Montserrat as we leave the carpark level to make our way up the mountain.

The view as we start to make our way up.

Some of the rock formations.

Harvey is excited at having made it to the top!


The gateway to the cathedral gives you some clues as to what you are about to see.


The are some fairly modern sculptures....



...and the cathedral is in the most amazing setting. It is nestled into the most stunning rock formations which look like they may at any stage, just march over it all. Some of the rocks almost look human!

... and has an ancient bell tower.

....and every now and agan you come across sights that make you go ohhh!.

At the end of it all though we had to go back to the car! Here comes the cable car to collect us and Bruce is one of the cars you can see in the car park below on the bottom right of the photo!

I think I turned green on the trip down...felt very weak at the knees and needed to hang on! Harvey on the other hand, got upset because he couldn't see out and then was much happier when he could sit on the window sill and enjoy the view!


....ooops nearly forgot to add that I also visited the Musea de Montserrat while I was there and saw work by people like Caravaggio, El Greco, Degas, Monet, Picasso and Dali! Wow, very exciting and thrilling. I think the one that most took my breath away was 'The Old Fisherman' by Picasso. It was painted when he was about 13 and was incredible in its depth and feeling. It is hard to imagine a thirteen year old boy having either the abilty to do the painting or the insight to capture the feeling that Picasso has managed to.....a stunning piece of work. Google it some time and have a look.