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.

Barcelona: Day Four (Too tired...)

I am too tired to post an in-depth description of our day. Suffice to say, we walked around Barcelona - at least 8 miles. Tomorrow is an early morning in order to go to Montserrat. 'Early' being 8 am. Nothing opens here before 10 am!

D insisted of a picture of me and this rose because a man walked into our restaurant selling roses and when we insisted that we didn't need a rose, he gave one to me anyway. The guilt ate away at D and he paid for the rose.

Hopefully, I can post a longer description of Montserrat tomorrow evening!

Madrid to Barcelona: Day Three

Last night, D and I discovered that our hotel room did not have an alarm clock. Since we have not been using our phones (no cell phone coverage in Spain), we were at a loss as to how to wake ourselves up this morning. Ahhh, yes. Wake-up calls. On a side note, our hotel room in Barcelona also does not have an alarm clock - apparently, waking up is not a concern for Spaniards! Anyway, we managed to get an early start and headed back to the Parque del Buen Retiro for a row boat ride in the little lake near the Palacio de Cristal. D found my rowing 'skills' very amusing - I have never actually rowed a boat before!

My first timing rowing a boat!

The Palacio de Cristal from our row boat.

We started our way back to the hotel to pick up an early lunch and head to the airport for our flight to Barcelona. However, for the second time within a 12 hour period, the police had blockaded entrances to our hotel due to protestors. Last night, protests against the Spanish austerity measures began around 11 pm and continued until at least 3 am (Spanish austerity protests). These protests were right outside our hotel near the Museo del Prado.

Protests against Spanish austerity measures outside the Museo del Prado.

After a fairly uneventful flight, we checked into our hotel on La Rambla and decided to wander down to the Port de Barcelona. La Rambla was packed!! So many restaurants, shops and people, all jammed into one small area. There is a large shopping center in the Port de Barcelona and in order to get to this shopping center, you have to walk on a floating boardwalk. Now imagine this floating boardwalk filled with people shoulder-to-shoulder. 

D imitating a buoy in the Port de Barcelona.

After leaving the Port de Barcelona, D and I wandered up Via Laietana and saw one of the two best surviving remnants of Barcelona's Roman walls, rebuilt in the 3rd and 4th centuries after attacks from Germanic tribes in the north.

Roman wall in Placa de Ramon Berenguer el Gran with the Capella Reial de Santa Agata on top.

For the first time, we actually managed to wait to eat until after 8 pm. Around 10 pm, all the Europeans wandered in to dinner, so there is still plenty of room for improvement in our meal schedule!