Something Old, Something New, Nothing Borrowed, Something Blue

[dolphingirl47]

We had a bit of time until our next timed admission. We had planned the itinerary like this to give us time for a coffee or even for lunch. In 2010, we had sheltered in a Starbucks on Passeig de Gracia when it started to rain heavily. So that was a definite option. Unfortunately we never found it. I was however somewhat confused about the geography of the place. I very vividly remembered that when we were walking down what I thought was Passeig de Gracia towards Placa Catalunya in 2010; Casa Batllo was on the left-hand side. It is actually on the opposite side. So I am wondering if we were not on one of the cross streets. Anyway, right opposite Casa Batllo was a restaurant specializing in tapas. It was a chain restaurant and I rather suspect that this chain may be to tapas was McDonald’s is burgers, but we ended up with a tasty and filling lunch at a good price. Graham had some coffee and I had an orange Fanta. We shared some chips with garlic aioli, nachos with guacamole and salmon and fried Camembert. I had not realized that the nachos came with salmon. I thought that what I was putting in my mouth was fresh tomato and had a bit of a shock when I realized what it really was. I do not eat fish. Apart from this, the nachos were a bit mediocre. The rest of the food was very nice though.











Once we had finished our lunch and paid, it was nearly time for our visit to Casa Batllo. I wanted to take some photos of the outside and Graham suggested that I head further up the street and then meet him on the other side. This is what I did. When I crossed the road, I got that sinking feeling. The line looked huge. A security guard near the end of the line checked our tickets and told us that we have Fastpasses and therefore did not have to get in line. He directed us to another door and we could go straight inside. I had not been aware of this. I just booked the cheapest timed entry ticket I could find. This was definitely nice to have. So we walked straight in. There were a couple of people in front of us at the desk were the audio guides are given out. In the morning we bypassed this pleasure, but here it was almost compulsory. I took one, but Graham declined and they put a sticker on his jacket indicating that he had declined. We then stepped into the entrance hall. There were a couple of interesting sculptures in an alcove, but the main feature was the staircase. This looked stunning. The audio guide stated that the bannister had been carved that it ergonomically fits the shape of the hand. I was a bit doubtful as hands come in many shapes, but it really works.












The staircase led to the Noble Floor. The first space we got to was the study of Mr. Batllo. All the rooms did not have any furniture in them, but the study has a really unusual fireplace. It has two integrated seats, one for two people and one for one person. Apparently this was a popular spot for young couples to meet and spend some time together and the single seat was for the chaperone. We then moved into the living areas that feature some beautiful stained glass windows and stunning light fixtures. We then moved through what used to be the dining room to the patio. This ended up being my favourite part of the house. There were Trencadis mosaics everywhere. Trencadis is very common in the Catalan modernism movement and uses broken pieces of ceramic like tiles and dinnerware. The main difference between mosaic and Trencadis that for mosaic, the pieces are cut to size to fit the design whereas Trencadis uses pieces that are already broken making this more organic. The overall effect is beautiful. We spent a fair while on the patio and I took photos from all angles before we moved on.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Our next destination was the attic. To get there, we had to go up a number of flights of stairs. The stairwell overlooked the courtyard and the walls of this were all tiled in various shades of blue. Most of the building is taken up by offices and they do not have numbers, but calligraphy letters to identify them. Eventually we ended up in the attic. This is made up of catenary arches again, but the overall look and feel is completely different from the attic at La Pedrera. There is a short projection mapping show called "The Awakening of the Casa Batllo” in this space, which was fascinating.

























We then took the spiral staircase up to the rooftop terrace. This was more along the lines what I had expected as it was flat. We got some pretty nice views over the city from there. Like at La Pedrera, the chimneys were grouped together, but the effect was completely different as they were covered in Trencadis. There is one room up on the rooftop, which holds the water tank. This had been turned into a water feature. Gaudí was a firm believer that anything functional should also be beautiful and he definitely succeeded here.















After our visit to the water tank, we started to make our way downstairs again. We got intercepted by a photographer. They have set up a camera on one of the balconies. Initially we both declined, but after I saw the finished result in the next room, I changed my mind. I am glad that I decided to get the photo. The price for this was fair and it came with a print and a code for a digital download. I could not get this to work on my iPad, but I could download this on my laptop without any issues. We then headed further down. On a mezzanine floor there was a small gift shop and a display with some more furniture. We had a quick look at both before heading back to the ground floor. I handed in my audio guide and then we left.

 

[dolphingirl47]

The last location on our to do list was the Gothic Quarter. When we did our research, we came to the conclusion that at this point we would need to get on the Metro again. There was an entrance for the right Metro line right in front of Casa Batllo. This was very welcome. Unfortunately appearances can deceive. We had to navigate endless tunnels until we were at the right platform. As it turned out later in the day, it probably would have been quicker to just walk to the Gothic Quarter. Still, every cloud has a silver lining. If we had walked, we probably would not have discovered two real gems. The first one we came across pretty much as soon as we got out of the Metro Station. At that end we did not have to walk quite so far to get from the platform to the exit. As we followed the signs towards the cathedral, we came across a part of the old Roman city wall. This was surprisingly well preserved and fascinating to see. Speaking of fascinating, we saw some rather interesting pigeon behaviour. They were clinging on to small branches on the wall. We found out the following day that this area is probably part of the territory of a bird of prey explaining that behaviour.













After we had admired the Roman wall for a while, we did walk through some of the narrow streets in the Gothic Quarter. I had seen photos of covered bridges linking houses on either side of the streets, but we did not find any of them. We did however find another gem on our wanders, the palace of the Viceroy. This is described of the finest examples of secular Baroque architecture in Barcelona. The outside of the building may be easy on the eye, but what makes this stand out is the courtyard. I am not actually sure what attracted us to this, as there is no indication from the outside on what is lying behind the gate. I am glad that we checked it out though. The main ground floor area of the courtyard is a little oasis of peace with all kinds of plants and a water feature. What is missing in this area are some benches. However, we went exploring for a bit and found a ledge that was just in the right position to sit on a bit further back. So we sat down. Above us was a beautifully carved wooden ceiling. I was a little bemused by the amount of people who walked in and straight out again. After a while, we decided to explore upstairs. The palace of the Viceroy is home to the archives of the Crown of Aragon. Unfortunately they were closed as it was a Sunday, but there was a little sneak preview of what can be found there on the walls of the top floor. We had a look around this little exhibition and then we headed out.







































As we stepped outside, a bit of a commotion attracted our attention. There was a group of young people who were having a very animated discussion about something. Although they were speaking English, they did not make much sense. They were arguing if there were enough people in their group or if they should find some volunteers. We just hung around for a while to see how this would play out. At one stage we were approached by one of them asking us if we had a couple of minutes. We were both curious so we said yes. Some of the group had assembled on the staircase of a nearby building and some other willing volunteers were drawn in as well. Everybody was posed and somebody took a quick photo. Once we were done, we asked what this was all about. It turned out that they were a group of MBA students on a residential week and they were essentially doing a scavenger hunt of sorts where they had to find stuff and do certain tasks. Apparently what we were volunteered for was a recreation of the arrival of Columbus in Barcelona. Who would have thought? Still, it was quite amusing and we had done our good deed for the day.



We carried on wandering for a bit. We passed the Place del Rei with its interesting architecture. This is meant to be one of the most impressive collections of medieval buildings in Barcelona and it definitely looks stunning. We eventually made our way around to the front of the cathedral. They have a strange set up for visiting Barcelona cathedral. In the morning they have a period where you can visit the cathedral for free. Then in the afternoon there is a time where you have to pay admission and then in the late afternoon there is another period where you can visit the cathedral for free. We got there at the end of the period during which you have to pay. We would have been happy to do so, but they no longer let people in. There was quite a long line of people who were waiting for the cathedral to reopen. We found a seat on another ledge on the square and at one stage I went to get a bottle of Fanta to share, as we were both getting a little thirsty. It was nice to sit and just watch the world go by. We did shake our head a bit though. Supposedly Barcelona cathedral has a dress code and there are signs to this effect very prominently outside the cathedral. It is nothing to restrictive, but knees and shoulders should be covered. While we were sitting there, we saw a number of women getting in line with very short shorts and skirts and very skimpy tops. I am not sure what I am sadder about: that people show so little respect or that the security guards by the doors did nothing to enforce the posted dress code.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Shortly after the doors opened again, we decided to get in line. This was moving fast and we were soon inside. Barcelona cathedral is another stunning church. We explored the area near the entrance first and then sat down for a while to just enjoy our surroundings. Then we made a tactical error. We headed for the cloisters. Now the cloisters are stunning and feature something I definitely wanted to see. There are 13 white geese in a fenced off area within the cloisters. They have their own water feature and look pretty happy with their life within the cathedral. The patron saint of Barcelona cathedral is St. Eulalia and the number of geese represents the age she was when she died. I am not sure why they have chosen geese, but it is definitely a unique feature having them there.























When we had a good look around the cloisters, we wanted to head back inside the church. That is when we became aware that we had made a tactical error. Evening mass was supposed to start in about 30 minutes or so and they had closed off the entrance from the cloisters. We were directed to an exit to the street and were advised that we could re-enter the cathedral from the main entrance. This is what we did. When we got back inside, we were only allowed in the back end of the cathedral nearest the main entrance. We hang around for a bit and stayed for the first part of mass. I think if I could have understood what was going on, I would have stayed, but unfortunately I do not speak Spanish. It was still very moving though.









When we left the cathedral, we took a few photos around the square and then went in search of a metro station. Suddenly we stood in front of El Corte Ingles. El Corte Ingles is a famous department store and is kind of the Harrods of Barcelona. It is also on Placa Catalunya - or so I thought. We had been inside El Corte Ingles in 2010 and this was right on Placa Catalunya. Our instructions for the meeting point for our tour the next day also stated that we would meet at Placa Catalunya in front of El Corte Ingles. What I had not appreciated that they have two stores very close together. One is right at Placa Catalunya and the second one is a little further down. We were stood in front of the second store. We went inside for a quick bathroom stop and then pushed on towards Placa Catalunya. We found the other branch of El Corte Ingles and it was very obvious were we would meet the following day.







There was one further thing that we had that day. They do a projection mapping show in the evenings at La Pedrera and this was part of our ticket. We had an entry time for 21:00, which was the first show of the evening. We still had just over two hours until then. We made our way up Passeig de Gracia slowly. We were also both hungry and we had not gone very far when we found a restaurant that looked good. To our surprise, the prices were pretty reasonable as well, especially considering that we were in a prime tourist location and on one of the most exclusive streets in Barcelona. So we decided to have dinner there. As soon as I sat down, I essentially felt I was done for the day. It had been a busy day. We had a look at the menu and Graham asked if I wanted to share some sheep cheese to start. I had visions of Feta, which I do not like and declined. He still decided to have some. We did however decide to share some Cava Sangria, which was quite unusual, but very nice. They also brought some bread with tomato puree to have with the Sangria. I did try some of Graham’s cheese after he told me that he thought I would like it and it was not what I had expected at all. It was actually a hard cheese and tasted a lot like Parmesan. So I had a few lumps of this. For his main course, Graham had steak with fries, grilled aubergine and grilled peppers. I went more traditional and had chicken and vegetable paella, which was delicious. Neither of us had room for dessert.













Once we had paid our bill, we decided to head back to the hotel. We dropped back to Placa Catalunya and got on the train there. We did not have long to wait. When we got back to the hotel, I made sure that I had everything we needed for the next day and then we got ready for bed.

 

[tiggrbaby]

Wow, what a full day! Your pics are, as usual, amazing! I definitely want to go through La Sagrada Familia. I was hesitant about touring the other two due to the prices I saw online, but I may have to rethink that. I am hoping to shop at El Cortes Ingles for some wine to bring onto the ship.

 

[dgbg100106]

When we visited in 2010, neither of us really enjoyed it, but this time round, we fell in love.

I am so glad to hear that you had a better experience this time.

I am not sure when this was introduced, but the reason behind this is that they want to restrict numbers to preserve this space.

I can understand that, when we were there, there were so many people in there and they were climbing on everything, it was kind of sad to people disrespecting a place like that, so hopefully this helps.

In France it is even easier.

Oh that makes me very VERY happy to hear.

If we are out and about enjoying ourselves, we often end up skipping a meal or two.

hmmm, I wish I could do that, i find myself searching out places, I really like grocery stores, to pick up bread and cheese and wine.

Graham was a little dubious about this, but I love the necklace and wear it almost every day at the moment. The earrings are just round, but have the same pattern.

Corinna

As long as you love it that is all that matters!

 

[dgbg100106]

As you know I am not a fan of French food, but this just blew my mind. It is real down to earth comfort food.

Corinna

I was watching a travel show about France and Normandy region, and they were talking about the Cassoulet, and that it has to build a crust while cooking and then the cook would break up the crust and stir it into the pot, and that a true cassoulet had to have this 6 times, or something like that. ANyway this crust was what flavoring the beans. I wish I could remember more of that... Oh well, I am getting old and can't remember.

 

[Pinkocto]

I am in sensory overload. You saw so many fun and beautiful places today, wow!


I will definitely let you know when I start planning, thank you for the offer

 

[EJ4Disney]

Just catching up. What a wonderful couple of days. I have had the awesome opportunity to be in Barcelona and tour the sights. The Sagrada Familia was a definite favorite. This has been fun to see the sights again. Thanks so much.

 

[franandaj]

You saw lots of amazing architecture. If we ever go to Barcelona I can see that we have a bit of research to do! I would have been "done" long before you threw in the towel!

I'm glad you went ahead and did the picture, it came out very nicely.

 

[PrincessInOz]

What an amazing Gaudi day! Love it.

Barcelona is high on my bucket list. I just don't know when I'll get there. So thanks for sharing. I'm loving it all.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Wow, what a full day!

It was a really busy day, but hugely enjoyable.

Your pics are, as usual, amazing!

Thanks.

I definitely want to go through La Sagrada Familia.

Sagrada Familia is a must do in my opinion.

I was hesitant about touring the other two due to the prices I saw online, but I may have to rethink that.

I can understand this. They are not cheap. If you decide to do one of them then I would recommend Casa Batllo, which is the more beautiful one.

I am hoping to shop at El Cortes Ingles for some wine to bring onto the ship.

We ended up doing this, too.

I am so glad to hear that you had a better experience this time.

So am I.

I can understand that, when we were there, there were so many people in there and they were climbing on everything, it was kind of sad to people disrespecting a place like that, so hopefully this helps.

That is probably precisely why they introduced this arrangement. We did not notice behaviour like this fortunately.

hmmm, I wish I could do that

It has its advantages especially when time is at the essence.

I was watching a travel show about France and Normandy region, and they were talking about the Cassoulet, and that it has to build a crust while cooking and then the cook would break up the crust and stir it into the pot, and that a true cassoulet had to have this 6 times, or something like that.

That sounds interesting. There was definitely a crust on the Cassoulet.

I am in sensory overload. You saw so many fun and beautiful places today, wow!

It was even more of a sensory overload in person.

I will definitely let you know when I start planning, thank you for the offer

It will be a pleasure.

What a wonderful couple of days.

It was.

You saw lots of amazing architecture.

We were very lucky with what we were able to see that day.

If we ever go to Barcelona I can see that we have a bit of research to do!

Yes, I did hours of research.

I would have been "done" long before you threw in the towel!

I have to say it was a very long and busy day.

I'm glad you went ahead and did the picture, it came out very nicely.

I really like it. It is just a shame that I could not convince Graham to come out on the balcony with me.

What an amazing Gaudi day!

It really was.

Barcelona is high on my bucket list. I just don't know when I'll get there. So thanks for sharing. I'm loving it all.

There is so much to see and do, but the highlight for me is about to come.

Corinna

 

[dolphingirl47]

Day 10

We had an early morning that day. We had to get up at 6:30 as our excursion was leaving from Placa Catalunya at 8:30 and we were supposed to check in for this 15 minutes earlier. We got up and got ready and then headed downstairs. Breakfast at the hotel officially starts at 7:00 and we had hoped that we would be able to grab some pastries and some fruit to have on the way. We got downstairs about 5 minutes early and the breakfast area looked nowhere near ready for opening so we scrapped that plan and headed for the station instead. We needed to get train tickets as our 10 journey ticket had been used up. Everything worked like clockwork. We got our tickets and the train pulled in shortly after we got on the platform. I was positively surprised that we got a seat as this was rush hour. The train filled up as we were getting closer to Barcelona, but it was not too bad at all.







We got off at Placa Catalunya and headed for the exit. I should have made a note of the correct exit the day before as we ended up on the opposite side of the square. Still, we had made very good time so this did not matter. We got to the meeting point with still nearly 45 minutes to spare. Graham sat down on a nearby bench and I went in search of some breakfast. I found a bakery and got us an apple muffin each. Once I got back to Graham, we ate them and they were rather nice.



When we had finished our breakfast, we got in line for check in. They had some technical issues with the ticket machine so in the end somebody brought a book with tickets and we each got one of those. I am not sure why we needed one in the first place. We had a confirmation email and nobody ever asked for the ticket once we had it. We were also given a little booklet with descriptions of all the tours they do, which included plenty of information about our tour and what we were due to see. We found some seats near the front and it did not take much longer until we set off.



Our guide Patricia introduced herself and told us a bit about what to expect of the day. Unfortunately there had been a little change of plan as the rack railway that we were supposed to take up to Montserrat was closed for refurbishment. We were told that we would be taking the cable car instead and that this would be quicker, but we would probably have to split the group. She then told us a bit about landmarks we were passing. All the commentary was in both English and Spanish so it took a while. We went past the port twice. There were a number of cruise ships in port that day. I have to say that although I had loved this part of the holiday, I was ready to get on a ship at that stage and I was glad that the next day, we would do just this.

We did get mixed up with rush hour traffic a little, but we still made good time. Once we were clear of the city, it did not take us long to get to Colonia Güell which was our first stop. We passed the factory first, which was the reason for Colonia Güell being built. This was a cotton mill, which piqued my interest as we live in a converted cotton mill and a lot of the industrial history of our region is linked to cotton. In 1890, social unrest made it necessary for Eusebi Güell, to move his cotton mill to Santa Coloma de Cervelló. The new project involved the creation of an industrial village with amenities which would improve the workers' quality of life: terraced houses, an athenaeum, theatre, school, shops, gardens and church. Like so often with projects that Eusebi Güell was involved in, this was never quite finished, but there are a number of beautiful buildings designed by the leading Modernista architects of the time. The main reason why I wanted to visit was that Gaudí was charged with building the church. This was never finished as the Güell family withdrew funding for the project in 1914 after only the lower nave was completed, but this was where Gaudí tried out many of the architectural innovations that he later used for Sagrada Familia.

The bus parked on the outskirts of the village and we walked from there to our first destination, the Gaudí crypt. I liked what a saw and took a couple of quick photos. Graham asked me why I had taken him to Rochdale. Rochdale is an industrial town near us and like Colonia Güell, the textile and especially the cotton trade has played an important role in its history. I have never been to Rochdale so I cannot comment about the other similarities, but there is one thing I know for sure: it does not have a Gaudí church.

 

[dolphingirl47]

When we got near the Gaudí crypt, we had to wait for somebody with a key to come. I was quite surprised that there was a fence around it with quite a heavy duty lock on the gate. Patricia told us a bit about its history and why it is so significant and then somebody else came to let us inside the church itself. We then went inside. I was blown away by the detail. This space is taking Gaudí’s approach of imitating nature to an extreme. The supporting pillars look like leaning tree trunks, but the most outstanding feature is the ventilation system. Part of the stained glass windows fold out in a way that resembles butterfly wings. The effect is truly stunning. We had a bit of time to take some photos and just sit and enjoy our surroundings. The pews were also designed by Gaudí and I actually quite like them. There is one part of them that was not designed by Gaudí though. The kneelers were added to them later. Gaudí was devoutly Catholic. He also did not believe in creature comforts when it came to his faith. He felt that people should kneel on the stone floor when praying.







































There is another quirky feature. Gaudí also had some strange ideas on what would be a distraction to the congregation. The choir was screened off from the main sanctuary. This is another architectural masterpiece. You can look from the choir into the church and indeed this gives the best perspective of the space. However, you cannot look from the church into the choir. I have to say the concept that people may be distracted by the members of the choir amused me no end, considering that the intricate architecture provides more than enough distraction. Apart from the view over the sanctuary, there were some other elements of interest in the choir. There were a number of architectural drawings and also some concept art showing what the church would have looked like if it had ever been finished.

 

[dolphingirl47]

We then headed up some stairs and outside where some more stairs were waiting for us. We stood on what was supposed to be the floor of the church, but is now the roof. The location for the supporting pillars had been marked out and Patricia pointed out segments of what were supposed to become the pillars nearby. We had a short time to look around and take photos and then it was time to leave. We headed back towards the centre of the village. There is a small museum there and this was also where we would get the glass of Cava, which was included in the tour.



























When we got there, they were not quite ready for us. So everybody headed for the bathroom, which was opposite. As they have very limited facilities there, this took a while. I then headed back to the museum and got my glass of Cava. Graham joined me shortly afterwards. We finished our Cava and then had a quick look around. There was a second floor and a film, but we did not have time for either. I did not feel that I had missed anything as the part of the museum that we had seen was not very interesting. When we got back, Patricia asked everybody to meet outside as it was time to leave. It took a little while until everybody was back and we could head for the bus.







Once we were back on the bus, Patricia told us a bit more about Montserrat and the history/ legends about the monastery there. It did not take us too long to get to the cable car station. As soon as we got there, the heavens opened. The bus dropped us off by the side of the road and we then had to walk over a bridge to get to the cable car station. We found a long slow-moving line, which considering the weather was not exactly a pleasure. There was some very low cloud so we could not even see where we were going and the cable cars that left the station while we were waiting soon disappeared out of sight. There was a slight irritation while we were waiting. There was a group of young women from Brazil that was part of our tour group. They got bored with waiting and decided to turn the line into a disco by playing loud music on one of their mobile phones and starting to dance very enthusiastically in line.













Eventually the line moved inside and we were at least dry. In the end I think our entire group managed to get into one cable car. This was an experience. The cable car was absolutely packed. Graham and I got separated in the scrum to get in. Shortly after we left, we were surrounded by clouds and we could only see where we were going intermittently. I did see something interesting on the way up. I saw something that looked like a pig, but was brown. It did not look particularly big from my vantage point. I could not take a photo as the cable car was so crowded that I could not get my camera out. When I told Graham about this once we were reunited, he suggested that I must have been imagining things as he had never heard of pigs that live in mountains.







Apart from the waiting time and the fact that the cable car was so crowded, there was another drawback. Whereas the station for the rack railway is right in the centre of the monastery, the cable car station is quite a way further down the mountain. We had to climb seemingly endless staircases to get to the monastery. Some of the members of our group had limited mobility. There was also the aspect that we were at quite a high altitude. So the stairs were extra hard work. Once we got to the station for the rack railway, which was supposed to be our starting point for the tour, about half of the group was missing and we waited quite some time. Some of the last people to arrive reported that one of the members of our group had been taken ill. So Patricia left us to head back down the hill to check on this person. She eventually came to re-join us stating that the person was OK. By that time we no longer had time for the introductory tour as we were due for our tour at Escolania very shortly. I was not too upset about this as it was pouring with rain. As we set off, Patricia gave us the option that we could either go with the group or do our own thing. I opted to go with the group, but Graham split off.

 

[dolphingirl47]

We headed towards the basilica. On the way I saw something very unusual. I am used to churches and especially Catholic ones having votive candles that people light as part of a prayer request. The set up at Montserrat is somewhat different. There is a covered walkway between the monastery and the outer wall of the basilica and it is there that votive candles are kept. This is quite a sight to behold. We were in a rush and did not have time to stop and look, but I decided to come back for a look later. When we go to the entrance of the Escolania, we were met by Laura, one of the teachers there. Patricia handed us over to her and advised that she would have to go to look after the member of the group who had been taken ill, but would meet us in the church after the performance of the choir.

Escolania at Montserrat refers to two separate, but interlinked things. The Escolania de Montserrat or simply the Escolania is the boys' choir of sopranos and altos based at the Benedictine abbey of Santa Maria de Montserrat. This is going back to at least 1302, when the existence of Escolania was first documented. However, there is a good chance that it is even older than this. Today the choir consists of 53 boys aged 9 to 14. During the week they stay at boarding school, which is also referred to as Escolania. The boys come from various towns in Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, and the Valencian community. They leave for the weekend mid-afternoon on Friday and then come back in time to sing at mass on the Sunday. This is a private school and each boy has to pay €550 per month to go there. This seems to be quite a lot, but even that is heavily subsidised. There are however bursaries and scholarships for boys that have an outstanding talent, but whose parents cannot afford the school fees.

We were going to get to experience both aspects of the Escolania. We started with a tour of the boarding school. We entered through the gym and then headed to the classroom of the guide where she explained a bit more about the choir and the school. She is the year 5 teacher. I had a distinct sense of déjà vu. I spent 4 years of my life working in a boarding school and then taught year 5 during my last year of teaching. Escolania is very different from any school I have worked in though. During the morning, the boys study the normal academic curriculum of the region, but their afternoons are taken up with music theory, orchestra, choir practice and music lessons. Every boy has to play the piano plus a second instrument of his choice. It was at this stage that we found out that the majority of the choir was not in residence that week. The older boys had left for a tour of Hungary that morning and only the boys in year 5 were left behind. We were told that they were very nervous as this would be the first time that they would perform in the basilica without the older boys.

We had a look at different parts of the school including the music library, the chapel, the common room, the dorms and the lecture theatre, which is also used as a cinema for the boys. A lot of this looked very familiar down to the common room having exactly the same sofas that the boarding school I worked at used to have in their boarders’ common room. We then went through the room where the boys warm up their voices and the changing room to the basilica. While we walked through the first room, the boys arrived to get ready for their performance.











It was very interesting to see the school, but the best was yet to come. We were directed to a reserved area to listen to choir. The church was absolutely packed so this was real bonus. There were only two pews in this area, but I was more than happy to stand. There was just one little issue. I was standing in the front row and noticed that a member of the group was trying to take some photos. So I stepped a little to one side so that she could come closer to take her photos. What I had not bargained is that she would then invite her friend into the space that was barely enough for one person as well. I was standing right by the steps down to the crypt and although there was a chain between me and the stairs, I got a little nervous when they tried to crowd me more and more. Fortunately it did not spoil my enjoyment of what was to come.









At 13:00, one of the monks stepped up to the lectern near the altar. He made some introductory remarks of welcome in Spanish, Catalan and English and then followed this with short reading from the bible in the same languages. The congregation was then encouraged to say the Lord’s Prayer in whatever their native language was. Then it was time for the choir. They sang two hymns: Salve Regina and the La Virolai, which is the hymn to the Virgin of Montserrat. The whole service only lasted about 15 minutes, but it was deeply spiritual and I was glad that I was able to witness this. I was hoping to find a video on You Tube of a performance during this week, but I could only find some with the whole choir. It was still very impressive with only 10 boys.

Both Patricia and Laura had mentioned that after watching the performance of the choir, we would have a head start on seeing the Virgin of Montserrat. This had not really sunk in and it took a while until I cottoned on to what was happening. There was a chain between the area where we were standing and the rest of the church. There were two ways out from where we were standing: the door back to the school that was now closed and a staircase. So we headed up the staircase. This is absolutely stunning. I could not really understand why there was a line to go up the staircase and even more so, why it was moving so slowly. The staircase got ever more ornate and suddenly there was a very beautiful silver door leading to an even more ornate staircase. This staircase led straight to the throne room where the Black Madonna of Montserrat is located. The statue sits behind a sheet of glass. However, one of her hands that is holding a sphere (which symbolises the universe) is not behind the glass. It is tradition for you to kiss or touch the Virgin's hand. I passed on this particular pleasure, but I did take some photos of the church from this vantage point before heading down a staircase on the other end.























The staircase ended in hallway leading to another staircase on the outside of the basilica. Patricia was waiting there for us. I got there when she was about halfway on telling part of our group what they could do with the rest of the day. A number of us arrived at the same time and she told us to wait as she would repeat everything again until everybody had the information. It was still raining heavily so she recommended a visit to the rest of the church; a visit to the museum and also gave a recommendation for lunch. She advised that the museum contains works of art by a number of famous artists. She had me when she mentioned Marc Chagall.

As I was right there, I decided to head back inside the church first. She had recommended that we have a look at the different silver votive holders that were donated by various towns around the region as penance for attacking Montserrat during the Spanish civil war. The staircase just outside the hallway where Patricia had met us led down to the Ave Maria Path (Cami de l'Ave Maria). This is the covered walkway with all the votive candles that I had admired earlier. I spent some time there just enjoying the atmosphere. This is a deeply spiritual place. About halfway down the Cami de l'Ave Maria is a beautiful bronze statue. I am sure that it is meant to be an angel given its location, but it looked like a fairy to me.










Once I left the Cami de l'Ave Maria, I followed the signs to the basilica. I crossed a courtyard and came past the line for the Black Madonna of Montserrat. This looked huge. I was glad that we did kind of have a Fastpass. I went inside the basilica and had a look at the silver votive holders that Patricia had mentioned. They looked more like lanterns and were stunningly beautiful. They were all around the perimeter of the church. After walking around for a while, I found a seat near the front of the church and just enjoyed my surroundings.

 

[dolphingirl47]

When I left the basilica, I was definitely ready for something to eat. I decided to check out the buffet that Patricia had recommended. This was at the opposite end of the monastery from the basilica and near the carpark where we would meet our bus later on. It was still raining pretty heavily. I passed a little market with local produce. They had all kinds of samples to taste, but considering the weather and the fact that I was heading for lunch, I was not tempted to stop. Shortly after I passed the market, I crossed over to the other side of the street as there was a covered walkway and I was out of the rain. I am glad that I did as I there was a stunning view over the mountain and the valley. There was still plenty of low cloud making this very atmospheric.





















Shortly afterwards I reached the building in which the buffet is located. This is on three levels. On the top level there is a little grab and go cafeteria as well as a gift shop. There is full service restaurant on the middle floor and then the buffet on the bottom floor. I was surprised on how good value this was. I can’t remember the exact price, but it was only around €15. Considering that they have a captive audience there and also the variety of food on offer, I thought this was very fair. I was even more impressed when I realised that the price also included unlimited water, soft drinks, beer and wine. The food was also very nice. I had some orange Fanta to start with as I had only had the muffin first thing in the morning and figured I better have something to eat before I drink wine. I had a plate with cannelloni with tomato sauce, sausage, croquettes, chicken tender, chips and aioli. I found a table very near the drink station so once I was about halfway through the food on my plate, I got a glass of white wine. Although this was just a simple house wine, this was very tasty. For dessert, I had some vanilla and chocolate ice cream.



After I finished my lunch, I used the bathroom and had a quick look at the gift shop and then I headed out again. I had about an hour left before I needed to make my way back to the bus and wanted to check out the museum. I bumped into Graham once I reached the covered walkway. He had taken one of the funiculars in search of mountain pigs. He did find some. They are actually wild boar and just looked smaller than they are from the cable car. By the time I met Graham, it had stopped raining and the clouds had dispersed. It is kind of scary on how quickly the weather can change in the mountains. I told him where I was heading and he told me he would wait for me and enjoy the view.



I powerwalked over to the museum only stopping to take some photos of the basilica from the outside. When I got to the museum, I realized that there was an admission charge of €8. Given that I had so little time, I was not willing to pay this. This will wait until our next visit. We are both in agreement that we want to come back when the weather is better. We have figured out how to get there by public transport so we can spend all day at Montserrat next time. For now I headed back to where I had left Graham. We headed back to the restaurant building for a bathroom stop and to have another look at the gift shop. They sold all kinds of things that are produced at the monastery there including some Cava. We ended up getting a bottle of that. Then we headed to bus. We still had some time left, but the bus was open and we were both happy to sit. There is free Wi-Fi at Montserrat and I made use of this even though this was a little patchy in the carpark.



We had to wait a while until the last people were back. Then we made our way down the mountain. I slept through most of the drive back to Barcelona. We arrived back in Barcelona ahead of schedule. I think they had factored in rush hour traffic, but the traffic was very light. We said goodbye to Patricia and headed inside El Corte Ingles. They have a supermarket in the basement. Graham wanted to get a loofah and we also wanted some Spanish wine. We were out of luck with the loofah, but they had some exfoliating gloves. We did find some rose wine. Unfortunately it was only when we got back to the hotel that we noticed that it had a cork rather than a screw top.

With our shopping done, we headed down to the station to take the train back to Molins de Rei one last time. This was the longest time we had to wait for a train, but it was still not a problem. We had planned to have dinner at the same little place we had eaten on Saturday, but the shutters were down. It was just before 18:00 when we walked past. There were no opening times listed, but after our experience in Narbonne, we figured that they may open after 19:00. So we headed back to the hotel and chilled out for a bit. I used my iPad to check if they have a website or Facebook page, but I was out of luck. I did however find that similar eating places in the town open at 19:00 so we left again around this time. The shutters were still down. It looks like they are closed on a Monday.

We headed towards the town centre to check out what other eating options there were. We briefly considered a Chinese restaurant, but then decided to stick with tapas. We found something suitable shortly afterwards. We had the same issue again with the lack of English being spoken, but this place had a proper menu so we could just point to what we wanted. We shared a jug Sangria, which was nice, but not as good as the one I had on Saturday. We decided on three dishes. We went with empanadas, machengo cheese and patatas bravas with aioli. The patatas bravas were something completely different again. Here they were roasted potatoes. They were still very nice. The empanadas were a tactical error. I am used to them being filled with beef or sometimes chorizo. Here they were filled with tuna, which was a bit of a blow considering that I don’t eat fish. Graham ended up having them all to himself. I had my share of the patatas bravas and the cheese as well as some of the free olives, pork scratchings and bread with tomato that was brought out and I was more than stuffed. Once were done with our food and Sangria, Graham asked if I wanted another drink. I had enough, but he decided to have a glass of the local beer. Once he was finished, we paid and walked back to the hotel. On the way I stopped at a little corner store to get a bottle of soft drink.








[url=https://flic.kr/p/J7ovdj]





Graham was ready for bed when we got back, but I had got a second wind. I spend some time catching up with my emails and Facebook before playing my game for a while. I also read for a bit before getting ready for bed around 23:00. I knew that we would not be in any hurry the next morning so I set the alarm for 9:00 and then went to bed.[/url]

 

[dgbg100106]

Your day at Montserrat was packed with experiences that you will remember for a long while.
When we went we took to the train out from Barcelona, and took the cable car up and the funicular. We ended up hiking up to the peak there where there is an observation deck, and points out all the different places you can see, it was a long hike.

We did not get to hear the boys choir, they were away when we came. We did go thru the museum, and the basilica, I wanted in that long line to see the Black Madonna, I thought she was pretty but those silver doors were beautiful.

I too thought the outdoor candles were a little different but also gave a sense of solitude and solace.

It had been a beautiful day for us and then the heavens opened up on the cable car ride down and while we were on the train it rained very heavy, so opposite from what you experienced.

We too ate at the cafeteria and we thought the food was really good and very cheap in price.

Your dinner sounds interesting, I would not have thought the empanadas would have seafood/fish in them since we always see them with meat or cheese, but it does make sense with it being a coastal town.

 

[tiggrbaby]

Montserrat was lovely! I had been looking at a tour that went there and to a cava cave, but maybe I'd be better off going on my own to spend the full day.

 

[dgbg100106]

Montserrat was lovely! I had been looking at a tour that went there and to a cava cave, but maybe I'd be better off going on my own to spend the full day.

There is a special ticket, that I bought at the Airport tourism office (well I bought it here over the net and picked it up there) that included the train ride out, the cable car, funicular, entrance, and came with lunch that was very reasonable. It was called the ToT Montserrat Ticket. It is the last ticket type on this page. http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/tour/barcelona-montserrat.html