Montserrat: My Happy Place

View from the bottom of the cable car.

The vistas are simply phenomenal.

Rising majestically between Barcelona and Manresa on the bank of the Llobregat River is Montserrat, a splendid trip for visitors who would like to escape the din of Barcelona for a day.  The park offers myriad hiking trails and amazing vistas of the countryside; some say you can even see the Balearic islands from the peak on a clear day.  Montserrat is also home to an art museum as well as a Benedictine Abbey, making it a popular site for religious pilgrims.  And it's easy to access via public transportation!

The Pyrenees off in the distance

The mountain is said to hold a mystical power and once you get there it's easy to see why.  Sweeping vistas greet visitors, giving them a spectacular view of the surrounding plains and mountains.  For hikers, there are seven hiking routes available that will take you anywhere from 15 minutes to three and a half hours to complete.  Take any of the trails leading up towards the peaks and your hard work will be rewarded with some incredible views of the plains, the Pyrenees or even the Mediterranean.  While you're hiking, keep a lookout for the flora and fauna: On my last trip to the park, I was able to capture photos of some mountain goats peacefully reposing on the rocks.

A family of mountain goats basks in the sun.

For those less inclined to taking inclines, the tiny village that greets visitors from the public transit entrance offers quite a lot of scenery, indoors and out, as well.  The sanctuary is a gorgeous site in and of itself, ornately decorated and beautifully detailed.  Construction of the complex began in the late 15th century and the Basilica was consecrated in 1592.  This is where you will find the Virgin of Montserrat, La Moreneta, one of the mysterious Black Madonnas of Europe.  Many travel to Montserrat just to touch (or kiss) the orb held by the baby Jesus in the statue.  Montserrat is also home to an art museum with several permanent collections that is located a short walk from the cable car/rack rail entrance.  On weekends, you may well find a market for local goods with samples of the various meats and cheeses made and sold in the area.  And, before you take your leave of the park, you simply must stop by the gift shop for a sample pack of the monastery's famous liqueurs.  You can also purchase food and water for a picnic here, but it'll cost you a bit more than the stores in Barcelona.

Sant Joan (pronounced ZHO-ahn) keeps
a lonely vigil.

Getting to Montserrat is relatively painless.  From Barcelona, take the R5 train originating from Plaça Espanya station, which is served by the red L1 and green L3 metro lines.  There are two kinds of combination tickets; the Trans Montserrat package will set you back €23.10 and gets you a round-trip metro ticket, round trip rack rail or cable car ticket, entrance to the audiovisual show and unlimited rides on the funiculars.  For an additional €15, the Tot Montserrat package adds lunch and a tour of the museum.  Personally, I like packing a picnic and eating while hiking, so the Trans Montserrat ticket has held us in good stead, but the €38 package would probably be perfect for those who do not want to stray far from the main complex. The R5 train that leaves Plaça Espanya at 07.36 is the earliest you'll want to take as it arrives at Monistrol de Montserrat (where you connect with the rack rail) in time to catch the first train up at 08.48.  The last train down from Montserrat to the R5 leaves at 20.15 during the summer and on weekends from April to October.

Accommodations are available at Montserrat and for the most part the prices seem reasonable (especially for the apartments).  If you want to see the whole park, staying one or two nights would be the best way to do so in one trip as the mountain is huge and virtually impossible to see in one day.  Montserrat may be a better summer trip than a winter one.  The operating hours are markedly shorter in winter along with the length of daylight; however, crowds are most likely bigger in the summer.  If you go in winter, be prepared for the potential for some VERY cold weather; while it doesn't snow very often, snow has been recorded from November through March and the mornings can be very chilly.  I can't wait to make my next trip up the mountain and I'm sure once you've gone, you'll be anxious to go back as well!

The complex.

HOW TO GET THERE VIA PUBLIC TRANSIT:

From Barcelona, take either the L1 (red) metro or the L3 (green) metro to Plaça Espanya station.  Once at Plaça Espanya, follow the signs to the FGC railway platforms.  There will be signs directing you to the R5 to Manresa, which has two stops servicing Montserrat: Montserrat-Aeri for the cable car and Monistrol de Montserrat for the rack rail.  Tickets can be purchased at automated kiosks in Plaça Espanya station, Plaça Catalunya Tourist Information or the FGC La Molina office in El Triangle, next to Plaça Catalunya.

USEFUL LINKS:

A cable car rises to the monastery.

Cremallera i Funicular--Information about the rack rail and funicular tickets, ticket packages, time tables and the park itself.
Montserrat Reservations--More information on the park as well as a reservation site for the hotel and the apartments.
Aeri de Montserrat--This is the site for the cable car.  It's a beautiful ride to the monastery and quicker than the rack rail, but it's not for the faint of heart.
Abadia de Montserrat--This is the site of the Abbey itself.

Love for Barcelona

Catalunya Metro Station

One of the reasons I love living in the heart of Barcelona is the buzz of the place. Cituat Vella is constantly in motion, filled with throngs of people peregrinating to and fro along La Rambla and meandering down the dozens of alleys that connect the plazas, home to al fresco dining and wining.

La Rambla is turning springy.

Admittedly, this din occasionally causes difficulty either falling or staying asleep. And, truth be told, I am just a tad nervous about having to make a difficult choice between closing the balcony doors and broiling or leaving them open and stuffing plugs in my ears during one of the heatwaves to which the city is prone.

Performance art is found everywhere.

But, I assuage my fears with the belief that this is a small price to pay to live in a city I enjoy so much. I also have confidence that what passes for a heatwave in Barcelona would be little more to a native Floridian than a spate of unseasonably warm April weather, but time will tell this tale.

In the meantime, I shall continue to enjoy the buoyant murmur of this vibrant city and watch in anticipation as the trees once again grow verdant and bask in the breezy warmth of the southerly, Saharan air beginning to prevail over the Siberian chill. Catalunya is waking from its winter lull and I look forward to see what the warmer months have to offer.

Parque Guell is usually packed throughout the year.

The beach is where you'll find some fun, get some color and find some colorful fun.

Places I Haven't Been...Yet, Episode 1: The Chilly

I opened Google Earth just a few moments ago for some reason that evaporated into the ether before I had time to look up what I was searching for. I had left the grid on from a previous session, though, and as the map zeroed in on its centering point above our new flat in Barcelona I was reminded of the fact that I would like to visit some place on the Prime Meridian at some point in my travels. As it happens, Barcelona, like all of Catalonia and most of Europe, lies to the east of the line demarcating east and west, but the Meridian travels through Spain, France and (naturally) England. I have always had a love of geography, or at least I've always enjoyed looking at maps. And part of that love affair has involved looking at places that would seem to be difficult to get to but stunning once you got there. As well as the aforementioned penchant for imaginary lines that bisect the globe.

Here, then, is a list of places I'd like to see before my time on this planet is done and a bit about why I'd like to see each place. It is by no means comprehensive and I am taking suggestions:

Tierra del Fuego--Any place named "The Land of Fire" has to be interesting, right? It's the farthest south of any part of any continent not named Antarctica. One can even expect to see snow in the summertime. It's got a boatload of mountains and two of the southernmost towns in the world (Puerto Williams, Chile and Ushuaia, Argentina). How can that be anything but cool?

Antarctica--Speaking of southernmost and Antarctica, I definitely have my heart set on someday stepping foot on the continent at the bottom (or is it the top) of the world. It has penguins and scads of snow and glaciers and it's ridiculously cold and it's probably as alien a landscape as one can find without leaving the planet. Sounds like my kind of place.

Mongolia--Saw a movie that was filmed there back in the 1990s and it looked really beautiful. Not kidding.

Tromso, Norway--Or just about anywhere in Norway, really. But this is one of the furthest NORTH towns that anyone can go on the planet. I think it would be really awesome to see the Arctic Cathedral or the Aurora Borealis or the Midnight Sun.

There are a ton of other places I'd like to see in cooler climes as well, but as I've been working on this post for an inordinate amount of time given the subject, I'll leave you with those for the moment. More lists will follow, though, so be on the lookout. Better, tell me where you'd like to go and why.

A Rough Overview of Tampa Bay

Downtown Tampa

Sprawled lazily across a hundred miles of Gulf coast from Crystal River south to Englewood lies the Greater Tampa Bay area, a loose confederation of cities, suburbs and exurbs anchored by Tampa and Saint Petersburg, the twin hubs of culture and commerce around which the area revolves and the place where I spent most of my life. The area is home to a wide array of activities and places to explore, from the cityscapes its two largest constituent cities to semi-exotic island beaches, from highly-cultivated orange groves to verdant parks and just about everything in between.

Fog sometimes visits in fall

The city of Tampa is my preferred haunt, boasting some 330,000 residents spanning from the Interbay peninsula to the Pasco county line and it is here where you'll find the most urban setting in the region. Tampa hosts a number of attractions for a number of different tastes. Visitors can dance the night away in Ybor City, mix and mingle with the young urban professional crowd in SoHo, take in a Lightning hockey game at the St. Pete Times Forum (named for the paper that bought the rights to the building, not the city in which it is located) in downtown, a football game at Raymond James Stadium or visit Busch Gardens for some theme park fun.

Gulf Coast sunsets are captivating

If the beach is more your style, then the Pinellas county side of the bay is the one you're looking for. The best beaches are to be found on the barrier islands that stretch the length of the county's coast and draw millions each year. Clearwater and St. Pete Beach are two of the more popular and commercial beaches, but for those looking to get away from the din of the crowds the county offers Fort De Soto in the south and Honeymoon Island in the north. They'll each cost you a few bucks to get into, but I can tell you from personal experience that they're both worth the price of admission.

St. Petersburg is also home to one of my favorite cultural icons, the Salvador Dali Museum. The museum boasts of having "the world's most comprehensive collection of the renowned Spanish artist's work." It is here that you'll find seven of the painter's 18 original masterworks, including my personal favorite The Hallucinogenic Toreador. Central Avenue in St. Pete is a good place to look for nightlife on the western side of the bay. The area has been made-over in recent years to house a younger more artistic crowd which has given rise to a distinctive culture all its own. Not far from this hipster hangout is Tropicana Field, a distinctly shaped dome that houses the Tampa Bay Rays.