December 11th, 2019
I had one more day trip today from Barcelona and went to Montserrat. It is a multi-peak mountain range in Catalonia with a monastery on one of the summits. I took the subway to the train station and then got on the train for about an hour traveling north from Barcelona. There are lots of hiking trails around with great views but the weather was bitterly cold and I wasn’t really prepared for a hike. I think hiking in the area would have been really nice in better weather. Once you get off at the train station, you take a cable car to the top. This was cool and also offered great views of the surrounding area. It was so cold at the top I had to go inside the cafeteria and get some hot chocolate to warm up before going back out. I walked around for a bit taking in the views and getting a few pictures.
There is a sculpture called “Stairway to Heaven” which was very pretty. I thought it was unfortunate that they had a tacky chain link fence around it.
The monastery at the top was pretty awesome once I found the entrance. There were no photos allowed inside but it was pretty elaborate, and I was able to walk through and even go up into the alter.
After the church, I made my way back down the mountain and into the city. I got back just in time for an epic sunset over Barcelona. It was so beautiful, and a very special moment as I watched the sunset for one of the last times on this incredible trip of a lifetime.