Montserrat

The schoolorganizes a trip there. Travel blogs rave of it. It's on the list of "Top 10 Things to do in Barcelona". Yet, when it came to Montserrat, I had zero desire to go. All I knew of Montserrat wasthat it was a 2 hour trip to get there and it's a giant rock you have to climb. At the top, there is a monastery. Scott's first attempt to get me to go went a little something like this:

Scott: Montserrat on Saturday?

Kat: Umm I was thinking more like beach on S

aturday.

Scott: So you don't want to go to Montserrat?!

Kat: Na....

Scott: Valentina's coming

Kat: (Pauses) Maybe...

Scott: There's a beach there....

Kat: Really?? Oka.... wait! No there's not!

Everyone was doing it so I decided I really should go. We compromised and decided we would go on Friday afternoon instead of Saturday morning, sinc

e Friday was suppose to be dreary. We caught the train at Plaça Espanya and rode fo

r about an hour outside of Barcelona. Trains and subways in Spain do not have 6 or 7 separate train cars connected to make one big train. It's not like an American subway where one has to force open the train car door, try not to look down at the track flying by and make a leap of fate into the next car. Instead, all the cars are open and connected by a moveable platform that bends and sways with the movement of the train. Great, right? Except the one on this train was in dire need of WD-40. It was releasing the most horrific, high pitched squeak the entire hour. I thought I was going to lose my head. Scott finds my inability to cope with these kinds of situations utterly hilarious. Everytime it squ

eaked we would make eye contact, I would tighten my jaw and shake my head and he would laugh.

As a side note, earlier in the day Scott and I were walking through the metro and I told him my screaming-baby hypothesis. I am convinced that on this trip, everywhere I go there is this one screaming baby that follows me and continues to wail in my ear. I could be on the beach, in class, on the metro, in the shower... wherever, and there will be, without a doubt, the screaming baby. It's actually incredible. Toward the end of the first trai

n ride, when I was just about to light the squeaking train car on fire, Scott reminded me that at least it was not a screaming baby.

After the train ride, one has to take a tram up the mountain to arrive at Montserrat. Well actually, one has two options. You can either take the tram, which is a smaller train and it takes about 20 minutes - or- you could opt to take the cable car

where you will ride in a gondola-esque contraption up the mountain to take in the view. Being that we're in Spain and I don't trust the metro let alone a cable car

constructed in 1970-something, we opted for the tram. This ride truly was incredible. The little tram climbs up the mountain at nearly a 90 degree angle and every view is cooler than the last. We were so high up our ears were popping. It was a little scary but very cool!

We finally got to Montserrat and stepped out into the little village. The colours and the way the buildings were shaped is comparable to Italy's San Gimignamo. It is breathtaking. We got off the tram and kind of stood there for a moment. In our haste to get there, none of us

actually did research as to what to do when you get to Montserrat. I knew it had some holy roots somewhere along the line... but I was

tired and feeling silly so I made up my own story as to why Montserrat is a famous holy site. It goes a little something like this:

Montserrat is the site in Spain where, about 400 years ago, Jesus landed his space ship in order to settle the dispute between the dinosaurs and the humans. Jesus told the dinosaurs to cool it and they wouldn't listen so he killed them all - like a ninja. Then he told the humans they were free from the dinosaurs and that's when the super bowl was created.

It turns out, this is actually not why Montserrat is famous. If you want to know that story, you have to look it up... because I decided I like my version better and therefore I will not be researching the true story.

When we got to the top we took in some incredible views. There are no

words that do justice to the beauty of this place!!! And then reality hit, and we realized Montserrat is inundated with gift shops and other tourist delights. It was really sad actually. We took a trip up to the basilica and the crypt and then headed home for the night.

We climbed back on the tram and headed down the mountain. When the tram dropped us off for the train, there was some minor confusion about which track would take us back to Barcelona.... and when. The train finally came but it was packed. And, of course, within a moment of departure a baby next to me began to wail. Scott and I bursted into laughter.... up until the squeaking started.