Montserrat

I visited Montserrat on a beautiful day in February. Montserrat (Literally "Jagged Mountain) is located about a forty-five minuted drive away from Barcelona in Catalonia. It currently serves as a monastery for some seventy monks. We arrived around nine in the morning and to views of the Pyrenees Mountains and France in the foggy distance. The mountain itself is extremely unique as it juts out every which way creates a site that anybody who visits Catalonia should see. After exploring the the toursity area at the bottom of the mountain where they sell assorted cooking oils and cheeses, we made our way up the mountain to a tram that went almost vertical bringing to an ideal area for hiking. Our tour guide pointed out an old monastery no longer in use way up in the mountains and we traversed narrow paths to arrive at huge cross located at the top of the mountain. From here we saw the most amazing view Montserrat has to offer. In the distance we could see the tower that sits atop Montjuic and the summits of Pyrenees mountains. We spotted several small towns beneath us also. From there we made our way back to the bottom where we ate lunch and eventually went to the art museum. I came across a portrait of an older gentlemen and couldn't believe the detail and realism. I looked closer and saw Picasso's signature and took a step back as it was my first encounter with an actual Picasso piece. I looked closer at the description of the painting and it said, "Early Pablo Picasso, painted at fourteen-years-old. Could not believe it. From the art museum we went to the cathedral and waited in a long line to see the Virgin of Montserrat, or "the Black Virgin." It was declared the patron of Catalonia, along with Saint Jordi, in 1844 by the Pope. After a long-day of hiking and sight-seeing, we arrived back in Barcelona around six at night, early enough to grab a beer.