Back a few years ago when I was living in Salamanca, my parents came to visit me over the holidays. While they were here I made my one and only trip (so far) to Barcelona. I don’t know what it was about Barcelona (the long lines, losing expensive tickets, getting pickpocketed or taking forever to get around) but my memory of it is not that great. Also nowadays in Spain, Barcelona almost has an air of not being “in Spain” around it, being so different from other cities around the Peninsula. I know I need to give it another chance, which I will do in September when I go the TBEX conference in Girona.
My fondest memory of being in Barcelona was when we took a day trip outside of the city to Montserrat, a Benedictine Monastery nestled on the cliffs and crags of a jagged mountain. We didn’t have the best weather, but as the rickety cable car climbed up through the clouds, we suddenly emerged in another world. The layer of solid white and gray below us blocked out the rainy countryside below, leaving us with the feeling we could walk on the puffy, cottonball clouds. Slowly the mists crept higher to merge with the clouds above, trapping us in a thick layer of gray, but not before I snapped this photo of the clouds and mountains.
Have you ever been to Barcelona or Montserrat, Spain? What was your impression of it?
About the author
I’ve been to Barcelona and to the monastery in Montserrat. I thought that there was a relaxed and casual, as in, easy-going atmosphere in Barcelona. My family enjoyed staying there for three days and was one of the highlights of our holiday in Spain. We had a day trip in Montserrat and it was an awesome experience. How I wish we stayed up there at least one night to experience the serenity and peacefulness of the place. There are two hotels up there for folks who want to spend the night or two in the monastery grounds and join in the religious activities of the monks. I love this part of Spain. I wish to go back there one day explore Catalunya.