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I’d purchased a package for visiting Montserrat, a monastery near Barcelona. On Sunday morning we walked down to Plaça de Catalunya to redeem the voucher for our train tickets. When we got there we were unsure where to do this. We ended up mistakenly entering the subway station. I showed the voucher to a gate agent and she said we had to take the train to Plaça d'Espanya first. I was a bit confused, since that wasn’t what the email had said. I went to a second gate agent and she said the same thing. We actually went ahead and bought the train tickets (about 2.50 euros each), but when we got to the platform it just didn’t make sense. We went back outside and asked some people where the visitor information center was, and they pointed us across the street. Finally, we went there and redeemed our vouchers.
Now we went back to the subway station and took the train to Plaça d'Espanya. Now we had to find the FGC R5 train. This was harder than it sounds, especially since not everyone we asked spoke English. After fumbling around and even exiting the station at one point, we eventually found it. It didn’t help that there were no signs that actually said FGC, but instead there was some sort of green wave symbol that meant the same thing.
Somehow we made it onto the 10:36am train with a few minutes to spare. The trains basically only leave about once an hour, and the train takes just over an hour to reach the base of Monserrat. From there, we took the cable car up. I’m scared of heights, but it wasn’t that bad. It's basically like a ski gondola (although I don’t particularly like those either). There are two cars that alternate going up and down. After waiting in line for about 15 minutes, we took the trip up, which only takes a little over 5 minutes.
Aeri de Montserrat cable car
Top of the cable car
Once at the top, we oriented ourselves and admired some of the views. Then we just decided to have lunch. Included in our package was an all you can eat buffet. It’s a pretty good deal, with all kinds of meat, a salad bar, drinks (even beer and wine) and dessert.
Montserrat
While we were eating a large group of young people came in and sang a short song, perhaps in Latin? Not sure. Anyway, it sounded nice. Then they went to get their food like everyone else.
After lunch, we walked around nearby and enjoyed more of the impressive views. Then we walked over to the museum, which was included in our package. One of the most interesting things about the museum is that it includes a couple of the old walls, preserved and lit up impressively.
View from Montserrat
View from Montserrat
View from Montserrat
Viewing platform at Montserrat
Crowd gathers in front of a Saint George statue at Montserrat
Painting in the Montserrat museum
Old wall in the Montserrat museum
After exploring the museum we walked up to the Basilica. There was a line of people waiting to get in. The line itself wasn’t long, but it moved very slowly. After finally gaining entry, we walked mostly single file on the side of the church and up a narrow staircase to a spot overlooking the main area. I just took pictures (no flash allowed), but some come for spiritual reasons, touching the Black Madonna here.
Outside the Basilica
Inside the Basilica
Stained glass in the Basilica
After that, we descended to an outdoor area with many prayer candles. Then we entered the courtyard in front of the entrance. Surrounding the courtyard appeared to be living quarters on three sides. Statues and artwork surrounded the lower level of the courtyard.
Prayer candles
Tiles at Montserrat
12 Apostles
12 Apostles
12 Apostles
Joan I statue
After all this, it was nearly 4pm and we were quite tired. Our original plan was to do a short hike, but we decided to skip it and try to make it down for the 4:01 train. Unfortunately, although we got down to the cable car in time, it didn’t leave for several minutes. So we missed the train. We took the next train, which left at 4:41pm.
Returning to Plaça d'Espanya, we then got off and took the L1 back to Plaça de Catalunya and made the 10 minute walk back to our apartment.
After showering and a brief rest, we walked to Robota for dinner (Japanese food). It was very good!
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