The vibrant city of Barcelona is the capital of Spain's autonomous region of Catalonia. Barcelona is on the north-eastern shores of the Iberian Sea south of the French border. Summer temperatures are between 28C and 30C whilst the autumn and winters temperature are mild.
We docked at the port in Barcelona just as the sun was rising. We'd ordered breakfast in our cabin for 7am as we wanted to get an early start on our train trip to Montserrat. We had not booked a tour but planned to do a self-guided trip to Montserrat using public transport. Ken loves orienteering using maps and timetables and he has a wonderful sense of direction. We set off at 7.30 am and bumped into Cara and Rob from our Bible study group. They were planning to just wander around Barcelona but when they heard of our plans they decided to join us for the rest of the day. We caught a public bus to the centre of the city where we saw an impressive Corinthian column, erected in 1882 to celebrate Christopher Columbus' historic return from the Americas.
It stands in the middle of a roundabout, tall and commanding and glistening in the early morning sunlight as hoards of traffic passed around it.
We negotiated our way across Barcelona city to the Metro station bought tickets, rode 4 stops and emerged in another part of the city. Our quest was to find the Central Barcelona Railway Station, so we followed Ken's i-pad map up and down several streets until we found its' underground entrance. Across from the station was an impressive red stadium complex, which was built to host several events for the 1992 Summer Olympics Games. At the main station we were able to purchase tickets which included the train journey to Montserrat and two passes to use the two funicular rides to the top of the mountain.
A funicular is another name for a rack train. A rack is a train with a traction system that allows it to circulate safely up steep slopes s. A funicular travels on a track with toothed metal profiles between the rails, called a rack. This connects with the gearing, driven by the engine of the train, and is responsible for maintaining the adherence of the convoy.
The first rack train to Montserrat was opened in 1892 and the trip took 65 minutes. It operated until 1957 when whole train line was damaged due to landslides. The track has been reconfigured and now passes through a tunnel and across a bridge before reaching Monistrol-Vila where the first rack train is boarded and arrives at Montserrat in only 15 minutes. This modern rack train (funicular) was only opened in 2003 so for many years tourist wanting to reach the Monastery at the top of the mountain had to travelling by foot or bus to reach over a winding road. Today a second leg of the funicular can be taken from the Monastery Complex to a higher point on the mountain where even more spectacular views can be enjoyed and where hikers can explore the many trails on the mountain.
A train leaves Barcelona for Montserrat every day and every hour. The trip takes 90 minutes and it's a relaxing way to travel with wide windows from which to enjoy the passing vistas.
We passed through the suburbs of Barcelona before we reached the outskirts of the city where the Catalonian countryside opens out to reveal rivers, fields and forest views.
As we neared the mountains we began to gain some idea of what Montserrat may have to offer as some unusual, slender, giant finger-shaped mountain peaks began to appear.
We got off at the end of the line where a rack train (funicular) was waiting to take us up the very steep mountainside to the Montserrat Monastery Complex.
However, we decided to take a second rack train even further up the steeper side of the mountains to explore on top of the mountain and photograph the wonderful views that we'd heard of. Later in the day we planned to visit the Monastery Complex below.
The air was cool and refreshing on the mountain top but the sun was already very hot so we only did a short tramp on the trails enjoyed the great view and took some photographs of the Monastery Complex below and the views back to the city far off in the distance.
We rode the funicular back down to the town of Montserrat.
The awe inspiring town of Montserrat is perched 750 metres above sea level. Nestled in a mountain crevice in Montserrat is one of the great Benedictine Monastic Complexes of the Middle Ages. This religious retreat is undoubtedly the region's most distinguished religious retreat and features an amazing set of buildings, including the Montserrat Basilica, a Museum with original works by Monet, Dali and El Greco, a monastery, choir school and an expansive open courtyard plaza from with tourist shops and panoramic views from this mountain
We visited the Monastery where we watch a video on the history of this 11th century building where priests have studied the Bible, assisted people in danger from famine and in recent years the monastery has set up a boys' choir school which has become renowned for its beautiful singing. We saw a video of the boys singing and their young soprano voices were clear and very moving,–they were not unlike the Vienna Boys Choir, 'though the Montserrat Choir sang in Catalan. We also visited the Romanesque Basilica which is decorated with statues of Christ and the 12 apostles. The interior is famous for its gilded wooden sculpture of the 'Black Madonna' which people lined up for hours to pay homage to her nose as they passed by. It's sad that people honour a statue and miss the fact that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.
We stopped to rest at a rest at a restaurant for a snack lunch of a ham and cheese French baguette and sparkling water and it sure hit the spot because we hadn't realised how the heat of the day had exhausted us. Then we enjoyed the views from the open arched plaza courtyard before making the return journey to Barcelona via a funicular and the 90 relaxing train trip.
It had been a great experience travelling to Montserrat and the views from the unusual shaped conglomerate rocky mountain were unforgettable. The Olgas in Central Australia are also of a conglomerate composition and they have weird and wonderful shapes too.
