We woke up on the morning of our fifth day and...... it was raining.
Resilient as we are, we were not deterred by a bit of drizzle and aimed for Catalonia's National Art Museum...
...Which turned out to be closed.
Not to worry, the stormy sky made the skyline all the more striking from this view point!
Our next port of call was Barcelona Cathedral. The rain persuaded us to cover up our limbs, which worked well as the dress code to get into the cathedral is very strict.
In typical Catalan style, the cathedral is luxuriously Gothic inside and out.
We wove our way through the narrow, winding streets and marveled some more at historic architecture. It's hard not to imagine this city and how it could have been all those centuries ago.
We took cover in a cute little cafe, and watched the world pass through Barcelona's twisting streets.
We crossed our fingers and toes for the sun to shine... and it did!
We ventured a little further afield than Barcelona's city center and spent the rest of the afternoon amongst the peculiar peaks of Montserrat.
Literally translated, Montserrat means 'the serrated mountain', accurately accounting for its unusually craggy rock formation. It looks as though it is moments away from tumbling down, but we were assured it is not!
The option was there to take a funicular up to the very very very tip top of the mountain, but the clouds gently ushered us away to find a clearer viewpoint.
The sprinkling of mist chilled us just slightly, but I think it would make the perfect backdrop for any horror narrative.
The sprinkling of mist chilled us just slightly, but I think it would make the perfect backdrop for any horror narrative.
Montserrat plays host to the Benedictine Abbey, Santa Maria de Montserrat. There is an all boys choir school attached to the abbey, in which the boys live and learn. At 1pm and 7pm every day, the choir sings inside the church, which unfortunately we just missed, but you can just imagine how impressive it must be.
The abbey is Catalonia's most significant religious destination, housing the shrine of the Virgin of Montserrat (or the black Madonna,) and the grand decoration inside suggests no less.
Once we had finished exploring the abbey, we shoved our hiking boots on (not really), and began a twenty minute trek around the mountain.
The view stretched on for miles and miles. All the towns below us looked like tiny toy villages, and the great rivers running through them were more like a little trickle from way up there.
The end of our ''hike'' was marked by St Michael's cross, which, against a sky of azure blue dotted with fluffy white clouds, just looked glorious!
Montserrat is absolutely enchanting. From its striking serrated form, to the marvelous views it offers, this renowned religious retreat was well worth a trip away from Barcelona's center.
