Montserrat

Montserrat is a monastery built into an amazing rock mountain about an hour outside of Barcelona via train. Once you arrive at the train station, you can either take a cable car or a funicular up the mountain. Lucie and I opted for the cable car and the views did not disappoint. Once we arrived, we were overwhelmed by the immensity of the monastery and all of the surrounding buildings.

Basically, it is a little town set in the mountain with hotels, restaurants, stores, museums and even a post office. There are lots of hiking trails that start from the monastery, but we did not venture to far from the center of activity. The most impressive experience we had was entering the church and hearing the boys choir singing. It was amazing and made the hair stand up on the back of my neck - pure joy.

Everything about the place was lovely and is definitely a wonderful day outing from Barcelona. The views alone were worth the trip. I am sure we will be back with other visitors at which time we can explore more of the mountain.

Took this when we got off the cable car at the top!

A picture of Lucie taking a picture of the view!

Beautiful view!

Inside the church when the choir was singing.

Detail from the church.

More detail.

We lit candles for loved ones!

Outside of the church.

We got someone to take our picture TOGETHER which was nice!

Our view during lunch al fresco.

There are numerous spectacular statues.

More view. Note the buildings on the mountains. How did they do that?

Another beautiful view!

The monastery against the rock.

On the way down in the cable car. Lucie was happy! 

Back to Cadaques

Bucky and I love Cadaques so when Lucie got here for her summer visit, we decided to spend her first weekend there. We found an Airbnb that was a great price and perfectly located. We spent the weekend eating, drinking, lounging on the beach and walking with India. It was amazing but we missed Kathleen! No need to say more, just enjoy the pics below!

Bucky relaxing.

First rose of the weekend.

Cheers!

Love having a third person to take pics!

This is the street where our Airbnb was located!

Going out to dinner.

Lots of linen!

We love Cadaques!

Cute dad!

Lucie and Bucky visited the Dali House while India and I walked!

More rose.

So Cadaques!

Laughing during our selfie!

Loving the view!

Missing our 4th Wall!

Walked to the island and got caught by a rain shower!

A wedding

On Saturday, we drove to Sant Pol de Mar to attend the wedding of one of Bucky's teammates at work. The wedding was scheduled for noon at the Ermita de Sant Pau, a lovely stone church perched above the Mediterranean Sea. After walking up the numerous stairs to the chapel, we learned that the ceremony had been pushed back an hour so Bucky and I decided to enjoy a glass of rose on the beach. The beach in Sant Pol is just lovely - it is expansive with just a few bathers. The train track is directly on the beach and we discovered that the train from Barcelona stops there every hour after a brief 45 minute trek from the city. Of course, we started planning on when we could come back!

After an enjoyable hour beach-side, we walked back up the hill for the wedding. It was an intimate ceremony, and even though it was all in Spanish, we got the gist of it. Lots of reference to love and family and commitment! The couple is from Venezuela and their love for each other dominated the service. Their family, many of whom had traveled from Venezuela, was happy to be there and touched by the ceremony. Bucky and I were honored to be included.

Pictures were taken outside of the church after the ceremony and then we all headed to a lovely restaurant on the water to celebrate. The reception was full of food and beverage, dancing and toasts, and lots of love! The newlyweds had a wonderful time, as did all of their guests who were there to support and celebrate their commitment to each other! It was a wonderful day.

A sweet home at the base of the church.

Another special space at the base of the church.

Bucky looking at the view from the church.

Glass of wine at the beach bar.

You can see the church in the background.

Another view from the church.

Inside the church before the ceremony.

The bride entering the church.

The married couple making it official by signing the documents.

The reception.

View at the reception!

Details were amazing.

The bride and groom's seat!

The view for the bride and groom.

More view!

My view! Lucky me1

The bride and groom's first dance.

The beach where we will certainly spend some time in the future!

Palau de la Musica Catalana

Before moving here, Bucky bought the Lonely Planet book, Discover Barcelona. I have been making my way through their list of "top experiences" and decided to go for the Palau de la Musica Catalana yesterday! It is a concert hall that was built in the early 1900's by Domenech i Montaner for the Catalan choral society. The building is an amazing mixture of color, light and symbolism. The palau offers guided tours in multiple languages and the cost is 20 Euros for a 55 minute tour. I signed up for the 3pm tour yesterday and joined at least 30 others for a walk through the beautiful space and a quick organ performance. As you can see in the pictures below, the place is stunning. It feels like you are inside of a jewelry box - just magical. Now on my list of things to do is to attend a concert at the Palau de la Musica so that I can see it in action. Looking forward to that!

Each column is unique. Seems like everyone took the same picture!

More columns.

This beautiful stain glass window is in the ceiling of the concert hall. The picture does not do it justice!

A view of the stage. The organ is imported from Germany.

Front row seat.

Some of the muses that make up the back of the stage.

Second floor view.

The stage from the second floor.

Detail of one of the windows.

This is outside of the building - I walked around it after the tour (which was all inside) - I think this may have been a ticket window back in the day.