Montserrat & a Slight Diversion...

We took a day trip from Barcelona to Montserrat, which is basically this amazing monastery about an hour train-ride inland on the top of a mountain, the mountain of Montserrat. Holy cow, this place was impressive. Let me show you.

So in this picture, the basillica is on the right side, and houses the Virgin of Montserrat, basically a figurine of a black Mary and Christ child. A little non-traditional, but extremely famous in the Catalonian Catholic Religion. People come from far and wide to rub the little orb she has in her hands.

A wedding happened to be occurring right as we were in the basillica. Random, and really fun to see.

There were pretty extreme cliffs in the background. The other buildings in Montserrat were dormitories for the monks and other church workers, and of course, tourist shops/museums/etc.

Pretty impressive view. Spain is absolutely gorgeous.

Getting ready for the tram ride back down. This tram ride was not for the faint of heart, I tell ya.

So after our time in Barcelona we woke up early and started our journey to Cadaques, a small, coastal town in Northern Spain. We even got to hang out in our own room on the train... we felt like Hogwarts students heading off to school.

Well it didn't go exactly as planned. And here's why:

Pretty sad, huh? After a few tears of frustration at the bus station (from my end) and a few hours of waiting in Figuerres, it all worked out. We even got to walk around Figuerres, which was actually the hometown of the famous artist, Salvador Dali. That crazy silver tube structure in the video is actually a famous Dali work of art. Along with this blue beauty to the right.

Lessons learned:

• You gotta work with where you are.
• You might actually find some things you like, and end up having a pretty good afternoon.
• Language barriers are definitely... well... a barrier.
• Sometimes a few tears are necessary, but really, they get you nowhere. It's a good thing my husband knows how to keep his cool when the bus station employee just shrugs her shoulders after we tell them the bus drove off without us.
• Salvador Dali was pretty creative. Kind of bizarre sometimes, but creative.