From Barcelona to Montserrat

From Southampton, England, we sailed for three and a half days to the port city of Barcelona, on Spain’s east coast.  1726 nautical miles at a speed of 21 knots. 

For the uninitiated, a nautical mile is 6076 feet, as opposed to a statute mile, which is 5280 feet. A knot is one nautical mile per hour or 1.15 statute miles per hour.

The three days at sea were worth it.  Barcelona is a fabulous city and with over a million and a half residents, it’s Spain’s second largest, with about half the population of Madrid.

First off, I love Barcelona, or Bar-tha-lona, as the locals call it.  Spent many happy hours, running, walking, and crawling from tasca to tasca, in search of the perfect cup of Spanish red.  Turned out they were all perfect and got even better as the night wore on.

But, that was long ago, when I was young, nights were long, and adventurous women turned up like the pages of a favorite book.

Now, of course, all that has changed.  I am old.  Nights end before the moon lights up the sky, and I have been invisible to adventurous women for decades.  I’ve found, however, wine tastes even better over breakfast.

If you haven’t visited Barcelona make a plan.  Big. Expansive, yet a local feel that makes you long to wander the streets.  Las Ramblas, the major shopping and tasca-hopping thoroughfare.  All the Gaudi buildings and the as yet unfinished, Gaudi designed, La Sagrada Familia basilica, among others.

Gaudi's La Sagrada -still not finished

Details of La Sagrada

Another of Gaudi's fanciful buildings (on the right), this one an apartment.

By the way, what’s the difference between a basilica and a cathedral?  A basilica has been designated by the Pope as a very important church. A cathedral is where the bishop’s throne (cathedra) sits. It’s the main church of a diocese. A cathedral may or may not be a basilica.

A note on Gaudi, one of the world’s most inventive architects. His buildings are so fanciful, so different, they take your breath away.  Love the style or hate it, Gaudi was his own man.  When he began construction of La Sagrada in 1883, he was asked how long it would take to finish.  His famous reply:  “My client is in no hurry.”  No slave to monetary gain, he died a pauper, having been hit by a streetcar.

For more Gaudi, do not miss the Park Güell, as fanciful collection of building as you’ll find in the world.  But there is far more to the city than an architect’s fantasies.  The Picasso Museum plays homage to another favorite son.  Also, there’s the Olympic Stadium from the 1992 games and the Gothic Quarter, with edifices dating to the middle ages.

The name, Barcelona, comes from the family Barca, who ruled the region some 300 years before Christ.  No wonder it has remained a centerpiece of Catalonian culture.  2.8 miles of spectacular beaches, world class restaurants…nearly every year it boasts two or three restaurants in the world’s top ten…Barcelona is a place to be savored.

The endless avenues, guarded by heavy stone buildings, and romantic balconies, take you back to the late 19th century. Tall trees and greenery, strewn carelessly, yet artistically.

A Catalan Flag in a show of Independence

Stroll the waterfront.  Eat freshly fried calamari with a twist of lemon.  Drink a tinto (cup of red wine) or two.  Barcelona is a combo city.  Catalan. Spanish. Both languages inhabit the schools and the streets.  Big push for Catalonian independence these days, with Catalan flags draped from apartment balconies.

But, alas, the ship was only in port for a morning and afternoon.  Rack your brain, hop bus after bus, do your best….all in vain.  It’s impossible to see a city in a few hours.  Oh, you can see buildings and museums, but you can’t listen to the lilt of the language, smell the baking bread and morning coffee, watch the city awaken like a sleeping giant, dance into the evening, and see it drift to sleep like a weary child.

This trip, we decided to step outside the city and explore another of Catalonia’s wonders, Montserrat, perhaps the most famous mountain in Spain, known for its Benedictine Santa Maria de Montserrat abbey, convent, and home to the equally famous Black Madonna.

If you’re in the basilica at 1 p.m. (not in July or on Christmas), you can catch a free concert by the boys’ choir.  Yep, there’s a school here, high up the mountain.  Choir boys only.

The mountain is about an hour, northeast of the city and you’ll need to do your homework on how to get there.  Bus. Taxi. Train. Funicular. Cable car.

http://www.montserrat-tourist-guide.com/en/transport/00-transport.html

Montserrat means serrated mountain.  One glance tells you why.  Craggy and wild. Spectacular views of the city below.

The Catholic history of the mountain begins in 880, or so I’m told. It involves shepherd children, bright lights, angels singing and feelings of immense joy.  I don’t doubt it, having had those same feelings myself, under slightly different circumstances.  The roaming kids later invited their parents and a priest, all of whom shared the experiences.

In the same vicinity, in a cave, a statue of the Virgin Mary was found….no idea who found it.  However, it is now celebrated as The Black Madonna and is ensconced in the monastery’s basilica.  It’s not very big, but you can see it from the floor of the church, or stand in line to view it up close.

Outside the entrance to the basilica

Near the basilica is a wonderful museum that specializes in Spanish art, from early beginnings into the post-impressionists, and 20^th Century artists.

On the road leading from a restaurant, up to the church, vendors sell kick-knacks, but also some very special foodstuffs, such as local wines, jams, and cheeses.  Tried several of the sheep and goat milk cheeses.  Superb.

You come away from Barcelona, wanting to come back for a week, or a month, or a year.  It has a Hemingway-esque air that invites you to slide into a sidewalk café, order a wine and a small plate of spiced shrimp, watch the people, write a novel, and live an artist’s life of late nights, and late mornings.

Barcelona is the lost friend you've always longed to find again.  You’ll go back.