Montserrat Monastery

For my last full day in Barcelona, I booked a tour to go see the monastery at Montserrat. It's a beautiful site up in the mountains just 45 minutes away from the city. Some friends had recommended it and I wanted to make the most of my last day there.

I'll start by saying it was so worth it! It turned out to be one of my favorite trips while I was in Spain. I won't lie, the city life was getting to me a little bit, so a peaceful escape to the mountains was very satisfying. I enjoy the city, but after living in it for a month I was ready for a slower change of pace.

I met my tour group bright and early in the morning (after barhopping the previous night 😬) and rode in the charter bus up to the top of the mountain. They call it Montserrat, which translates to "serrated mountain." At one point, 50 million years ago, it was all under sea level. Our tour guide told us this, and other parts of its history, as we ascended the twisty road.

We toured the grounds and walked through the basilica where there is a Black Madonna statue on display. It's of the Virgin Mary with black skin and there are only about 500 in the world. The inside of the basilica is very pretty. There was no talking allowed inside.

There is also a school where boys go to study and learn a traditional Roman singing technique from the monks. In ancient times, Romans would castrate boys to preserve their young singing voices, but in modern times they just restrict the age to under 14. Thankfully. The students also learn how to play instruments.

We had free time for a couple hours and I chose to take a tram up to the top of the mountain. There were two trails that I walked along. It was so scenic and tranquil. It was still midmorning so the weather was perfect and the sky was clear for great views into the valley.

On the second trail I met another woman who was there alone and we walked together. We stopped here and there to take pictures of each other which worked out perfect. I liked having someone else to explore with and exchange our stories from Spain.

My tour group met back in the parking lot and drove home to Barcelona. I took the bus home from where we got dropped off and started packing for my flights home.

More photos: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1R5yzR3RlEL0Sx3O06_bQrPJ25s9Dy4TQiHeiBCUoA5o/edit?usp=sharing