Montserrat: Day Five

Breakfast (in truth, it was much closer to lunch) this morning was paella de pollo - a tasty dish of rice, chicken, peas and other random stuff that all went together perfectly.

Paella de Pollo para dos - it seemed like for 4 people!

Today we went to Montserrat mountain which has the Benedictine monastery of Santa Maria de Montserrat. The monastery is known for the statue of the Black Madonna, patron saint of Catalonia. It took us about an hour and a half to get there by metro from Barcelona. Upon reaching the Aerie de Montserrat stop, we then took a cable car up the mountain to reach the monastery and basilica. 

The view from the monastery at Monsterrat.

The organ inside the basilica - that's someone actually playing it.

D and me in front of the basilica and the Museo de Montserrat.

And in case anyone is wondering, the trains in Barcelona are not nearly as easy to navigate as the trains in Madrid. Exits (or salidas) and directions to specific trains are not clearly defined or labeled. In fact, it is possible to switch from the metro trains to the FCG trains (which are completely different) without changing to and paying for the proper ticket types, only to discover on the way back that they will not let you leave the train station without the correct (and paid for) ticket type. Furthermore, they will try to charge you 50 euros to leave. Very frustrating.