Barcelona, Spain

We arrived in Barcelona around 8:00 in the morning. The skies were overcast and temperature in the high 60s . We were fortunate that we didn't arrive yesterday as Barcelona had heavy pains with flooding, so we may not have been able to see much.

The country of Spain was formed when 2 kingdoms were joined by marriage- Queen Isabella (of the Christopher Columbus era). There is a statue of Christopher Columbus in the town. The children learn 2 - 3 languages in school - Spanish, English and Catalonia (the native language). Barcelona is the 2nd largest city in Spain - Madrid (the capital) is the largest.

Our tour today was the Montserrat Monastery. It is about an hour's drive from the port which gave us plenty of opportunities to see the country. Montserrat means serrated mountain, and you can understand how they got that name by the surrounding mountains. The area was once underwater millions of years ago, and so many of the rock formations have shells in them. Montserrat is a Benedictine monk mountain retreat. The panoramic views of the Holy Mountains is awe inspiring. There is a funicular that will take you to the top of the mountain with trails for walking.

The history of Montserrat started in 880 when religious elders explored a grotto and found an image of the Virgin Mary. From thar moment on, the grotto became a holy sanctuary. A small monastery soon began, and visitors came to see the grotto. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Monastery became a cultural centre and a music school had begun. The monastery was abandoned in 1835 due to the French War. It was then restored only to be abandoned once again in the early 1930s but the government of Catalonia managed to save Montserrat.Read more