Blessed by Montserrat, Betrayed by Barcelona

Leaving our hotel room while under the slivers of the early morning light, we had a short walk to a bus station to meet up with a small tour group to head to Montserrat. The ride was silent as we, along with the rest of the group, were still under a half asleep state. Fortunately the ride was rather short and we found ourselves at a base of a large mountain. Rain began to fall and a thick solid mist filled our surroundings. We quickly darted in a small cafe to avoid the shivering chill before hopping on a small tram car slowly climbing up the steep incline. Several moments later, we stepped out into the large open pavilion in front of monastery.

The deep fog that blanketed the area provided an almost mystical backdrop on an already magical place. We briefly followed our young guide until being left alone. We decided to follow the crowd of people and shuffled into a small line leading into the main inner sanctum.

We were soon passing by various small side altars and alcoves, all the while just being in a perpetual state of awe of the location.

A short wait later, we found ourselves in a small line queuing up to see the legendary black Madonna.

Legend has it that this statue was found in a nearby cave and dates back hundreds of years. Whoever touches the Madonna and makes a wish, will have their wish granted and that they would then have to return to thank her. As much as I disliked Spain, I did not plan on making this wish as honestly did not wish to return. When it was my time to stand before the statue, there was some confusion and I was immediately kicked out of the viewing platform, with just a mere glance to see the statue.

Regardless, we moved on and out of the small chapel back into the chilly morning air outside. Directly in front of the chapel we had just exited, there was a large tiled pattern on the ground which was rumored to give off an energy. We silently waited in a forming line to see if we could feel anything before a group of Asian tourists cut in front of us and began a series of serious selfies on the spot. Now I do not know what energy I was supposed to feel on the spot but now I was feeling anger and I calmly told them my frustrations.

With some free time on the mountain, we decided to stroll down the side street adjacent to where we had just came from. The street was lined with various vendors and little tents and stalls selling cheese and honey.

Now intrigued and hungry, we made our way to a small cafeteria and purchased some small sandwiches for lunch. After our lunch, we then stopped into several small souvenir shops and were even able to sample four free shots of alcohol that the monks make on the mountain. As I had also had a beer at lunch, I was feeling pretty enlightened on his so called holy mountain.

As we still had a good deal of time before we would have to rejoin the group, we decided to venture away from civilization and head into the woods via a small dirt footpath. Before long we found ourselves on a true nature hike, unsure what would lay behind each corner.

Before long, we would come upon several carved statues symbolizing different stations of the cross. With the rain continuing to fall and fog surrounding us, these statues rose before us and seemed almost otherworldly.

Trying to maintain our footing due to the slippery trail, we continued onwards and were just overjoyed at the location. We were climbing a holy mountain on the outskirts of Barcelona, something we’d had never thought possible or even dreamed about.

Before too long, we realized our time was coming close and we would need to make it make to the parking lot to rejoin our group.

As we approached the bus, our tour leader began to congratulate us as we had arrived just a single minute before we were supposed to depart. For once, luck was finally on our side on this trip. We entered the bus and soon the monastery was just a distant memory.

Arriving back in Barcelona, we decided to finally head to one of the most iconic spots which of course is the famed Sagrada Familia.

Even though the cathedral was awe inspiring, the area left much to be desired. The surrounding area was surrounded by American fast food staples like KFC, Burger King, McDonalds, Five Guys, and even a Ben and Jerrys. This did not feel like Spain in the slightest. Yet the worst offense of all were the surrounding population. It seemed as every single soul was American and we lost track at the number of girls taking selfies to impress their followers. This is not why we travel. This just overall left a rather sour taste in our mouths and set off from the area rather quickly.

We had a long and tortuous walk to the Catalina plaza and unable to locate any restrooms, Austin and I bought a water in a nearby Taco Bell just to use their bathroom (as in Spain, restrooms are unlocked via a code that is provided on a receipt).

We embarked on another long walk through the city streets, all the while trying to combat the various vendors trying to snag your attention.

Eventually we stumbled into a small themed restaurant (Bosc De La Fades) and had a small lunch and drinks, trying to decompress from the walk to get here. Finally having a moment to sit and relax, I used this time to my advantage to try and drink through most of their small beer menu.

With fuller bellies, we left the restaurant and made our way down to the close by docks to see some mega yachts and finally see our first glimpse of the Mediterranean Sea.

The sun cast deep shadows yet under the warm afternoon sun, we spent our time slowly strolling through the harbor and just silently enjoying the evening.

Darkness began to fall and we realized we should depart. We made our way to a far off metro that took us right by our hotel. We checked in, dropped off our bags, and set back off into the night to a nearby supermarket.

As it was still before 10 PM, I was able to snag a free drinks and we called it an early night back in the room before we dove into a tangent about the world that is about to come. Unsure if it was the drinks, our exhaustion, or just some other unbeknownst reason; yet this night back in this small cramped hotel was filled with such incredible discussion and conversation about our society, politics, and world views. (I’m going to blame the drinks)

To see the previous day’s adventure, click here.

To move onwards with us along our journey, click here.