Montserrat

Today we started out with a nice breakfast here at the hotel and decided to go on our own to Montserrat. It was a wonderful choice and we had such a fun day. We went to the train station that is near the hotel but it is not the one that the train leaves from, so we took the metro over to the one where we caught the other train. It was easy and a pleasant ride out to the base of the mountains. From there, we took the cogwheel railroad up to Montserrat. Those things are amazing! These looked to be fairly new and were in great condition and the view going up and down was beautiful. Montserrat is the monastary built into the side of the mountain and houses the Black Madonna. We went inside and enjoyed some of the service but unfortunately, the boy's choir that was supposed to perform at noon was out of town. We would have loved to have heard them. The day was warm in the 70s and sunny. We wandered around and then took the furnicular up to the higher place where most of the trails start for hikers and mountain climbers. We walked on one trail and enjoyed the views and enjoyed being out in God's gorgeous scenery. We went back down on the furnicular and wandered around the shops and back into the cathedral. It was just a lovely day and was such a pretty place that it was just fun to be a part of it. The train ride back to Barcelona was pretty as well-the scenery is very different than any part of Spain we have been in. We retraced our steps getting back to our hotel by the cog trains, train, metro and on foot. We are now finishing up our packing and we have checked in with our flights and are ready to head home early early in the morning. It has been a great trip but we are ready to be back with our family and friends! I will put photos on here from Montserrat and Barcelona when I get home-too tired to download tonight.