Mountain-Trekking (Montserrat)

Our other daytrip out from Barcelona was to visit Montserrat, a serrated mountain where they have the famous Monsterrat boys choir (from the oldest surviving music school and boys' choir left in Europe), and the most popular pilgrimage destination in Spain (a Benedictine abbey) featuring the Virgin of Montserrat (a statue of a black Madonna and child).

We got off the train from Barcelona at the cable car stop. There's also a Cremallera (rack and pinion train) to the top, but the cable car sounded more fun and would get us up there quicker. Plus, I think I've finally gotten over my fear of heights. Hooray for me!








This is the Basilica, where the Black Madonna (La Moreneta) shrine is.




We had read about how they found this statue that had been carved by St Luke and brought to Spain and hidden in a cave which was then found by a soldier during the Napoleanic wars and which apparently aided in the victory of the home team.


We didn't figure that we'd be able to walk up to it, take a photo and touch it too.




It's right above the altar in the cathedral.


The Choirboys. They perform daily at 1pm, so we got there right on time to check out La Moreneta and also get back inside before the rest of the crowd and grab a good spot to experience the Escolanía sing the "Virolai" (hymn of Montserrat) in the basilica.


After the singing, we went out and found a nice shady spot with a great view and had a picnic lunch.


Then we chose one of the not-too-difficult trails for some adventure hiking and mountain climbing.
















We found this distinctive rock formation which they use as the logo of Montserrat!