Monday, September 16: Montserrat

First a view of Placa d'Urquinaona outside of our hotel.  It is not Barcelona's finest plaza but very nice nevertheless.

Today we are up early for an 8am bus ride to the mountain of Montserrat to the north of Barcelona.  This is what a bus tour looks like.

The trip up to Montserrat has scenic views of the mountains and valleys.

We arrive at Montserrat and approach the church.

In the courtyard in front of the church is a wire sculpture named "Anna", for reasons not clear to me.

This morning we are treated to a maintenance worker using a vacuum to retrieve pieces of paper others have thrown into the sculpture.  Not everyone gets this photo.

There is a strict rule of no photographs inside the church.  I am a photographer so I dutifully follow the rule.  I am the only one not taking photographs inside the church.

Montserrat is the home of the famous Black Madonna.  Since no photographs are allowed, I present you with a stock photo from the internet.

We tour the Museu de Montserrat containing many wonderful paintings.  I won't bore you with images of art.  I'm sure that the title plaque is more interesting.

 This is what touring an art museum with a group looks like.

The boy's choir sings at 1pm.  Again, no photographs are allowed.  This image was taken from a sign in the gift shop but you get the idea.

Montserrat is also famous for their digestif liquors.  There is a line to obtain a tasting.

Beverly shows off her purchase in the bus on the way back to Barcelona.

During afternoon free time, Beverly and Charles walk and shop passing the Arco de Triunfo de Barcelona.

Road Scholar dinner tonight is at a local restaurant.

I had the gnocchi.

There is always dessert.  This time it is ice cream with creme brûlée and chocolate.  Yum.

Reading this blog entry makes me realize that I have been unduly negative.  It has been a very good, although exhausting, day.  I do like touring with a group.  The group gets many more things done in the same amount of time than touring independently because the group has all of the logistics figured out including tickets and lines.  And there is the added benefit of expert guides to explain what we are seeing.  There are positive and negatives and the positives outweigh the negatives.

Buenas noches.