Thursday, August 22, 2013

Barcelona: Day 6- Montserrat Daytrip

On Day 6, we traveled by train to Montserrat, about an hour outside of Barcelona.  Santa Maria de Montserrat is a Benedictine Monastery that is perched into the mountain of Montserrat.  It is a monastery and also houses a choir school for boys.  Unfortunately when we were there, the choir was on summer break.  After the train ride, we took a cable car to the monastery up in the mountain.  We went inside the church where the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared.  Now, there is a statue to commemorate this event.  Later, we took the funicular up another stretch of the mountain to the highest point (a little over 4,000 ft) and were able to hike around and enjoy amazing views. 
 
 

 
Looking up

 
 
Benedictine Monastery and choir school for boys (The monastery was founded in 1025AD and the choir school soon followed.  It is considered to be the oldest choir school in Europe.)
 

 
 
Cable Car to top
 

 
 
Up, Up, and AWAY!
 
 
 
 
Looking down
 

 
 The fam



 
Love those craggy points!
 

 
 
Mike & the boys


 

 Santa Maria de Montserrat, the church
 
 
 
 
Ornate church interior
 

 
 
Statue of the Black Madonna
 
 
 
 
My Aidan!
 
 
 
 
Next...the funicular to the very top!
 

 
 
Stunning!


 
 
 
Hiking around and enjoying the views


 
  
Having fun hiking


 
 
Deep thoughts
 

 
 
My boys!


 
 
Chapel near where hermit monks lived 
(The first hermit monks built huts around 900 AD)
 

 
 
Gorgeous


 

Beautiful and peaceful

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