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Published: September 5th 2008
Festival of Saints
Buddha in all His glory.We arrived in Barcelona to discover our hostel was right in the middle of a festival. Sleep was not going to happen for a long time, so we dropped our bags and joined the fun. People from all ages were filling the streets and having a good time celebrating The Festival of Saints. There were live bands on every block, people passing around Mojitos (minty cocktail), and every block was decorated in different themes (Smurffs, race car, buddha, etc). The ambiance was one of festivities and celebrations. Many people with there families walked from block to block, drink in hand, just taking it all in. (suited us just fine)
The next morning we were a little slow to start, but eventually we took a train to Montserrat (about 1.5 hours), where we boarded a cable car and climbed a mountain (very steep) to visit the famous statue of the Black Madonna.
-Legend has it that the Benedictine monks could not move the statue to construct their monastery, choosing to instead build around it. The statue's sanctuary is located at the rear of the chapel, where an altar of gold surrounds the icon, and is now a site of pilgrimage.
We
Park Güell
The entrance to the park. entered the chapel and joined the long lineup to have our 'moment' with the Virgin herself. We were able to touch only her hand as the rest is protected in a glass enclosure. After our 'moment' we both left with a feeling of peace and gratitude.
Montserrat" literally means "jagged (serrated) mountain" in Catalan (It definitely lives up to it's name) It is a tiny village built on a cliff (even has local transit and a hotel) and every where you looked was an amazing panaramic view of the city below. Looking up was also an astonishing view of the different rock formations which are hard to describe (a picture is worth a 1000 words). Unfortunately being this high up in the mountain, we were exposed to the unpredictability of weather and were in the middle of a thunder storm (lighting and rain), as you imagine we were not at all dressed for the elements (tanks do offer much rain protection). But as Ewa says: ˝A little rain never hurt anyone.˝
Upon returning to the city we visited Park Güell. Thankfully the climb up to the peak consisted mainly of escalators (how awesome is that? Escalators right outside,
City of Montserrat
Just got off the train and waiting for the cable car. exposed to the elements.) The park was designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí and built in the years 1900 to 1914. At the top of the mountain there was an amazing view of Barcelona, where we had a little 'sit down' and took it all in.
In summary we experienced a number of local wonders that Barcelona had to offer including the following:
-Arc de Triomf
-Walking through the Parc de La Ciutadella (which housed a giant mamouth and a lovely pond)
-Museu de la Xocolata -where the ticket was literally a chocolate bar (dark rich chocolate -mmmmm good)
-Basilica of Santa Maria del Mar in the Barri Gotic quarter of the city (where the buildings are so close no cars fit and tons of little shops giving this area a very European feeling)
-Placa Reial (considered one of the most beautiful squares in Europe (not sure if we concur, however, we did enjoy a Sangria which is a cold beverage made of red wine, fresh, seasonal fruit and a bit of bubbly water or citrus flavored soda).
-Local market along the street de la Boqueria which had fruits, meats, cheeses, candy,
nuts, baked goods galore (we were in heaven (finally affordable fruit, we bought a feast)
-Walked along la Rambla (saw markets selling chickens, roosters, rabbits, turtles and any animal you can think of under 15lbs -imagine this right in the heart of Barcelona).
-And lastly some Gaudi architecture including the Sagrada Família, La Pedrera and La Casa Batlló
Barcelona is definitely a city worth a second visit one day. We are now in Dubrovnik Croatia and on our way to the beach so hopefully our next pictures you will see us looking tanned and fabulous (more so then we already are)!
Love you all...and thinking Croatia in and of itself is our new favourite!
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Allison
non-member comment
Croatia
I can't wait to hear about Croatia. I hope you like it as it was one of my recommendations along with Lagos!! I sure hope to get to visit Croatia one day! Alli