Blustery Barcelona

We disembarked the ship to a cold, windy, rainy day in Barcelona. Our excursion toured the highlights of the city with a passionate guide which provided us an overview of this Cataluña city and a very special place high in the mountains nearby.



Our tour today would be a full one covering a lot of territory on the bus. The Basílica de la Sagrada Família was our first stop. This modern edifice is slated to finished in a few years and features multiple architectural designs. The Basílica is most noted for the vision and work done by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí.



We walked around the building viewing in awe the workmanship done and still being done on this unique structure.



We have added to our bucket list to return to Barcelona when the Basílica is completed and attend Mass.

We boarded the bus and headed across the city to the Palau Nacional. Another magnificent structure that offers a never-ending view of the city. Sitting high on a hill were views of the Olympic Stadium, the bullfight stadium (bullfighting is no longer legal in Cataluña), and the beauty of Barcelona.

The National Palace is surrounded by botanical gardens and now serves as an art museum. On a beautiful day, it would be a lovely place to have a picnic and take in all the beauty the Palace offers.





Then we were off to Montserrat, a monastery high in the mountains not far from Barcelona. These quick turnarounds are one of the frustrating things about cruise ship excursions. One’s appetite for a place or an experience is just a fleeting moment before being loaded up on a bus and hauled to the next destination.

The trip to Montserrat was only about 50 minutes and most of it was straight up! Tom’s dislike of heights made him thankful he was sitting on the inside seat of the bus. Arriving at the top of the mountain the change in temperature was immediately noticed as we stepped off the bus.

The winds were blowing hard and the views were hypnotic. We just stared at the rock formations surrounding us, the incline that took you higher up the mountain, and this piece of sculptor appropriately named “The Stairway to Heaven”



The fence was added recently to stop people (idiots) from climbing on the stairway for selfies.

Our time restrictions did not allow us the opportunity to ride the incline to the top... thank God! However, it was impressive to watch it transit the mountainside.

After a brief tour in the Monastery Museum it was into the church to see Virgin of Montserrat (Catalan: Mare de Déu de Montserrat). She is better known as the "Black Madonna". Historians disagree if she was carved in Jerusalem in the very early years of Christianity or later some time around 1000 AD. Either way, she is old and the original carving, whether due to candle smoke or time has been dark for centuries. Hence the name, the Black Madonna.





After a quick lunch, a little shopping and walking around the Monastery grounds the rain clouds moved over the hills and we dashed to the bus to escape the wind and rain. Our day in this magical place had come to an end.



All three couples had done different excursions today, so it was fun to gather at our meeting spot, the Maltings Whiskey Bar on Deck 7, to relax, warm up, and tell stories of the day. Our first day in Spain had been a good one, albeit the weather could have been better. ¡Salud!