Montserrat is a mountain about 1 1/2 hrs. ride by train from Barcelona’s Plaça d’Espanya station. It is the site of a Benedictine abbey, the Sta. Maria de Montserrat which hosts the Virgin of Montserrat sanctuary.

“Montserrat” literally means “jagged (serrated) mountain” in Catalan.

The abbey can be reached by road, or from a mini train station by cable car or by the Montserrat Rack Railway . From the abbey, a funicular railway goes up to the top of the mountain, where there are various abandoned hovels in the cliff faces that were previously the abodes of reclusive monks.

Anyway, we didn’t bother climbing to the top because there were a lot of things to see on the ground like the church

that is the church organ up there

then we lined up to see the Virgin of Montserrat. As you can see, there was quite a long line but I don’t mind because along the way

you get to see this beautiful candelabra  sculpture on the side,

the beautiful white on black floral design of the marble ceiling,

the mosaic painting on black marble walls and finally…

THE LADY wrapped in a  gold mantle 

I lighted a candle outside of the church

this is just one part, the candles  reach up to the side door entrance of the church

Since it was already afternoon (about 2 pm, the Spaniards take their meals late) El Marido and I trekked to this restaurant

it’s such a nice place because you can eat while admiring the view

lunch ( paella, bacalao"cod fish" in tomato with fries, pastel Catalan and strawberries with cream,yummy!

we ordered these for lunch . The paella was yummy and the cod fish was delicious!

Satisfied with lunch and with stomachs full, we had a little stroll

and look what we’d found just outside, a food market!

Catalan cheese and cheese cake, preserved fruits and sweets,etc.

It’s  museum time and I was sooooo excited to see the treasures that are waiting to be discovered inside this beautiful place..

The Museum

going down to the museum

Sorry but  in this museum, no picture taking allowed. But I was able to see some interesting impressionist paintings by Monet and Renoir, one or two by Dali, 2 early paintings by Picasso ( before he got hooked on Cubism) which was quite surprising because I got to see real people on these old paintings of his, lol! and other works by Catalan painters. I also got to some crowns, crosses , rings… well… church jewelry. Amazing!

After we bought our chocolates and other knick-knacks( to see these please click here or visit my Hey, I’ve Been Tagged!  May entry) from the Montserrat store we took the cable car

view from the top

and went back to Barcelona by train.

Wow, that was quite a day! Sorry for the long post.

Hope your weekend was great. Ciao!