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May 17, 2012: A Day at Sea |
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May 15, 2012: Cartagena, Spain |
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Return to the Index for Our Cruise to Europe |
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Arriving and Docking in Barcelona
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We watched as the ship slowly came into the harbor area in the gray morning light; it looked as if this might be our first bad day on the trip. Just before ten, the ship angled into its dock space- just about the same space as the Celebrity Century had occupied four years ago when we sailed on her from Barcelona. While the ship was coming in, the five of us- Greg, Fred, MaryEllen, Jim and myself- were making plans for our day outing to Montserrat, and just after the ship was cleared for debarkation, we were ready to head off.
The Trip to Montserrat
Getting to the Plaza Espanya Station
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At Placa de la Carbonera, we went partway around the traffic circle and then headed inland (west, according to my later investigation and the aerial view that you can see here). Then it was a straight shot of about two miles to get to Placa de Espanya.
In about ten minutes the taxi driver was letting us out at Placa de Espanya- right near one of the entrances to the underground train station. Before heading underground, we snapped a few pictures. One shows the monument in the middle of Placa de Espanya, twin towers that mark the avenue towards the National Art Museum and the Art Museum itself; you can see that picture here. At another corner of the plaza is a sports venue- the Barcelona Arena.
We took a quick look around and then headed down into the train station.
The Train to Montserrat Aerie
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Eventually, we did find the sign and headed off in the direction indicated. We went up and down stairs and through a number of passageways, all the while following the signs. As we were underground, I had absolutely no idea which way we were going. But pretty quickly we came to the entrance for the platform for the Montserrat trains. Greg's guidebook indicated that we should buy our tickets from a vendor at the top of the escalator down to the platform, so we went over to her kiosk and bought our tickets. They were not expensive (about $10 round-trip, if I recall correctly), and with tickets in hand we went down to the platform.
I let the four of them go ahead of me down the escalator, so I could take their picture, and while we were waiting for the train, Fred took a couple of candids that you can see here and here.
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It wasn't very long before a train arrived; we piled on, found some seats (it was surprisingly crowded) and, in a minute or two the train pulled out of the station. It was a subway for a while, but then came up aboveground for the trip northwest from Barcelona to Montserrat Aerie.
We took the occasional picture of the scenery along the route, and a couple on the train; have a look at them using the clickable thumbnails below:
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The trip took about forty minutes, and shortly before eleven we were off the train and on the platform at Monteserrat Aerie.
The Cable Car Ride to the Monastery
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When we got off the train we were immediately impressed by the grandeur of the scenery all around us.
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As you might imagine, there were pretty good views of Montserrat from the train platform and from the cable car teminus, and we certainly took our share of pictures. Using his zoom, Fred got an excellent close‑up view of Montserrat, while I took a couple of pictures from the train platform looking up towards the monastery. You can't see the monastery very well, since it is 1500-1800 feet above us, but you can certainly get the idea of how high and how isolated it is. I took two good pictures from this angle; the only difference was the presence of the cable car gondola. You can see those pictures here and here.
After Fred and I got our pictures, we followed Jim, MaryEllen and Greg down to the cable car station, which was right next to the train platform through a short tunnel. There was quite a crowd getting off the train, so we thought it would be a while before we could ride up, so we took the time to get some pictures and movies of the cable car going back and forth.
Unbeknownst to us, Greg, MaryEllen and Jim had been fortunate enough to get at the front of the long line, so by the time we got back inside, they had already gone. No harm; once they got to Montserrat, they couldn't go far!
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While we were waiting our turn, we got some good pictures of the trips ahead of us (a perspective we wouldn't be able to get when we were riding ourselves). For example, you might think that this cable car would be something like a ski lift, where the cables are pretty much taut between towers. Well, this cable car only had one tower (up near the monastery so the car could clear a rock outcropping) and the cables were anything but taut!
Below are clickable thumbnails for three more pictures we took while we were waiting:
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I knew I wouldn't be able to take a movie of our own car leaving (from the outside, anyway) so I filmed the departure of the car before ours and then the arrival of the one we would ride. You can watch those movies below:
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A Cable Car Departs |
Our Cable Car Arrives |
After the returning passengers had unloaded, it was our turn to board the car. It wasn't particularly full, so we could move around. I'll begin with two movies- one of the very beginning of our trip and one made halfway up:
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Our Trip Begins |
The Halfway Point |
While I was busy filming, Fred took some still pictures- including one near the top of the Santa Cava funicular coming down to its station. We would take that later on. Click on the thumbnails below to see the best of Fred's pictures:
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As you can see in one of the pictures I took, the cliff face below Montserrat on this side of the mountain is quite steep, but there is apparently a road down the other side and that must be how the materials were brought up originally.
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After I ended that movie, I went to the other side of the car for a view down the mountainside. We'll end the trip up with a view of the cable car in the upper station.
Our Group is Reunited
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As it turned out, the other three had gone ahead up to the plaza level when they got off their cable car, and they had been wandering around for fifteen minutes waiting for us. When we got to the end of the walkway up, we could see the three of them waving to us from the level of the plaza. We climbed the stairs at the end of the walkway and we were all back together.
The views from here were pretty spectacular, so we spent a bit of time, Fred and I, wandering along the top of the walkway looking out across the valley.
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And you can click on the thumbnails below to see some of the first pictures we took here at Montserrat:
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The five of us then spent some time planning what we might do during our time here. Of course, Fred and I were anxious to do everything, and MaryEllen was up with most of that. Greg wanted to concentrate on the basilica, museum and some other things around the plaza; he wasn't keen on taking the funiculars up to St. Joan or down to Santa Cava. In the end, we decided that while the four of us would go up to St. Joan, Greg would wander around the plaza for a while, and then when we returned we'd go through the basilica and have some lunch. Before we left for the day, Fred and I would take the funicular down to Santa Cava.
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I've also marked the Basilica and Plaza, in both of which we spent a good deal of time. I also did an extra hike near Hermitage Saint Joan to reach the Santa Magdalena Hermitage and get a great view down onto Montserrat, and that is marked as well. We stopped in a cafe for a snack, and you can even see that.
Although the walks up at St. Joan and down at Santa Cava were far from the main area of Montserrat, the funicular stations for both were right at the plaza. And since we will be doing a lot of walking around the main area of Montserrat, I thought you might like to see an aerial view of that area in enough detail so you could follow us around and on which I could mark some of the places we went and things we saw.
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Do that now and you will find our path from the station to the plaza area where we reunited with Greg, MaryEllen and Jim. Now we can begin our day's activities here at Montserrat. Follow Fred, MaryEllen, Jim and I to the lower funicular station for Hermitage Saint Joan and we'll start on up there.
Hiking to Hermitage St. Joan (the Chapel of St. Joan)
Taking the St. Joan Funicular Up
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The St. Joan Funicular Starts Out |
The Two Funicular Cars Pass Each Other |
Before we left the funicular car at the top, I took a picture of Fred inside the car. And just as we were leaving the funicular station, we passed the colorful equipment room, which was certainly worth a picture.
Our Walk to Hermitage St. Joan
As you can see from the map just outside the upper station, there is a path from the station to the Hermitage Sant Joan that takes about half and hour, and that's the path we started out on.
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About ten minutes from when we should have arrived at Hermitage Sant Joan, we came to a trail intersection- and a pretty confusing sign. The sign pointed to Sant Joan in two directions, and to another chapel, dedicated to Mary Magdalene, in one of those. We decided on an experiment (after I went a short ways up the side trail to see where it led). Fred, MaryEllen and Jim would continue on the broad trail to Sant Joan, and I'd take the other way.
So it wasn't until we came back together, which turned out to be at Hermitage Sant Joan, situated on a broad rock ledge above another chapel, that we found the trail was actually a loop. (I also found out later that from the path below, Fred had taken a picture looking up at the rock ledge that my own path brought me to, and you can see that picture here.) It was an easier hike the way the others went, and when MaryEllen and Fred joined me on the ledge, Jim was still walking past Hermitage Saint Onofre. But now let's return to the intersection and look at my own route up to Sant Joan.
My Detour to Hermitage Sant Joan
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To get to Sant Joan, which, as it turned out, is up on the cliff above another chapel dedicated to Saint Onofre, I had to walk west along the rock ledge. This was no dangerous rock climb or anything; the path was well maintained, there were railings, and there were even old walls and doorways, evidence of prior use. The walk was only a couple hundred feet, but it was very interesting. Below are clickable thumbnails for some pictures I took along the walk:
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So I walked along the rock ledge walkway and around the rock outcrop; this brought me to where I could see Hermitage Saint Onofre ahead of and below me. I could also see the other path down below me, and even the path back to the funicular station winding along the hillside.
Presently, I came to the end of the walkway, and was surprised to find that Hermitage Sant Joan seemed very much like a cliff dwelling from the American West.
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At the end of the walkway and the dwelling, there were stairs that led down to the path the others followed by chapel Saint Onofre and back to the trail intersection, and I found Fred, MaryEllen and Jim coming up to meet me.
While they were coming up the last set of stairs, I thought it might be a good time to take a movie.
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Hermitage Sant Joan was built next to that dedicated to Saint Onofre in order to take advantages of a cavity in a rock face. It already existed at the time of Abbot Pedro de Burgos (1512-1536). It is considered to be the best located hermitage, with good views and spacious rooms. It had two water deposits. It is said that from this hermitage, on a clear day, you can see the islands of Mallorca and Menorca. Due to its good location, it was an ideal place of retirement for abbots from the Montserrat Monastery. King Phillip III of Spain dined at the hermitage on 10 July 1599. It was destroyed during the Peninsula War and was partially reconstructed in 1858. At the beginning of the 20th century, a restaurant was constructed above the remains of the hermitage. The demolition of this restaurant led to the restoration of the hermitage. The hermitage was named after Saint John the Baptist, an aesthete who lived and baptized next to the river Jordan and who is considered to be the forerunner of Jesus.
Jim thought he might do better on the broader path back down, but Fred and MaryEllen wanted to try the way I had come, and so we headed back along the rock ledge. When we got to the end of the ledge and met up with the stairs down, I was intrigued by the path that continued up, and wanted to explore it. I told Fred and MaryEllen to head on back with Jim, and I would either meet up with them at the funicular station, or reconnect with them back down at Montserrat. So they turned to head down, and I turned to head up.
My Hike towards Hermitage Sant Jeroni/Sant Magdalena
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Due to its location, the Montserrat monastery was visible from this hermitage (a few minutes later I walked closer to the edge of the mountainside and I could see Montserrat far below me), and it was said that the singing of the nuns could be heard at night. It is thought to have been built by Abbot Cisneros in 1499, a short distance from an earlier hermitage. It now stands on a hill between the peaks named Higher Magdalena and Lower Magdalena. Named after one of Jesus's disciples, it was, as were the other hermitages, destroyed during the Peninsula War in 1812. There was a viewpoint with excellent views of the western part of the massif a short distance further up the trail.
I wanted to continue up the trail to Sant Jeroni, but I began to think that there were lots of other things to see in Montserrat, and that I shouldn't waste my time on simple hiking, and so I turned around here and headed back down towards the main trail. When I reached it, I headed back down to the funicular station. At one point, a cat crossed the trail in front of me and, instead of being scared off, curled up at the edge of the path, seemingly waiting for me to come closer. Not being able to resist, I did so, and, just like our own cat Tyger, he rolled over and let me rub his stomach- taking just as much pleasure in it as Tyger seems to. Before I left him I got one more picture of him exhausted from the attention. I supposed that someone must be taking care of him, both because he was fine with being petted and because he looked well-fed and healthy. Perhaps he comes up from Montserrat, or perhaps someone puts out food for him at the funicular station.
My Short Walk South to the Overlook
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From that high point, there were indeed excellent views- although Montserrat itself was hidden from view down below. One really good view looked across the saddle to our first hike's path.
I thought the views interesting enough to try to put together a panorama, so I took a series of five pictures and later stitched them together. This was the result:
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Then I was back at the funicular station in line to board the next car down. I took a number of good pictures on the way down, and you can have a look at them if you click on the thumbnails below:
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The Plaza Area at Montserrat
Museum of Montserrat
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Waterfall and Garden
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The statue that you can see in the garden is of Abbot Oliba (c. 971-1046). He was the son of a noble Catalan house who abdicated his secular possessions to take up the Benedictine habit in the Monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll and is considered one of the spiritual founders of Catalonia and perhaps the most important prelate of his age in the Iberian Peninsula.
Subsequently raised to the bishopric of Vic, Oliba was a great writer and left a great body of works describing his world to us. Most important of these are the Arabic manuscripts he translated into Latin for the benefit of all Europe. Oliba promoted the movement of Peace and Truce of God, a scheme that dictated that everyone- noblemen, knights, farmers and monks- agree to allocate certain days on which nobody could quarrel with anybody and on which fugitives could take refuge in churches or holy places- sure of being protected and respected. These were the Days of Peace.
Oliba founded the monastery of Montserrat (c. 1025) and consecrated or patronized numerous other churches. It was he who created the Assemblies of Peace and Truce, the seeds of the future Catalan corts, to aid the nobles in the administration of the realm. He improved the decoration of his own church at Ripoll and rededicated it on 15 January 1032. He was a close advisor to Count Berengar Raymond I of Barcelona and reconstructed the cathedral of Vic with the support of his Countess Ermesinda. The new cathedral was rededicated to Peter and Paul on 31 August 1038. He died at his monastery at Cuixà in 1046.
Walking Around the Plaza
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Although we all came through the main plaza at different times, and both together and separately, I am going to put the best of the pictures and movies that we took here (so they don't get scattered all over the place).
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One of the neat things about the scenery here was looking up at the various building all around and seeing the huge rock monoliths in the background. Makes me want to know more about how the place was originally built:
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Below are clickable thumbnails for some of the best of the pictures that Fred and I took in and around the main plaza here at Montserrat:
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The Montserrat Basilica
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To get into the Basilica from the plaza, one has to first make one's way around some construction, and then go through one of the archways on the north side of the plaza area. Once through the archway, there is a beautiful view looking back past the plaza and the monastery buildings to the craggy mountains beyond.
Through the archway there is a covered area that is lined on both sides with ornate sepulcres, or crypts. There were about six or seven of these, as I recall, each the resting place or dedicated to some notable. The one at left is the Sepulcre of Bernat de Vilamari, Count of Capaccio. Past these monuments and through a second set of arches and you are in the tiled square just in front of the Basilica's facade.
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The facade of the Basilica was ornately carved and very beautiful. It would have been more inspirational were it not for the fact that the enclosed atrium echoed the sounds of the tourists and pilgrims coming through it. Near the doors to the church was an admonition to the faithful referencing this very topic. I went ahead and entered the vestibule of the church, and the first thing that caught my eye was the daily schedule. I can only imagine that it is because of all the pilgrims that so many masses and other ceremonies are conducted throughout the day, although perhaps that's normal in Catholic churches.
From the vestibule, I made my way through the inner doors to find myself at the very back of a huge, ornate sanctuary.
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The church contains Montserrat's top attraction- the statue of the Black Virgin- La Moreneta. Pilgrims shuffle along a long and ornate passage leading alongside the church for a few moments alone with the virgin. (I could see this line forming just inside the vestibule, but at the time I was not sure what it was for, only that it was, from the looks of the people in the line, something for the devout.) The famous St. George is the patron saint of Catalunya, but La Moreneta is its patroness. While called "black" in English, the Spanish use "Moreneta" which means "tanned." The statue was originally lighter, but darkened (or "tanned") over the centuries (from smoke from candles, humidity, or its original varnish darkening with age).
At first it was hard to see where the La Moreneta was, but then I noticed at the very front of the chapel, high up off the mail floor, the line of pilgrims was moving by a statue I could barely see. Both Fred and used our zooms to try to get a picture from a distance, and you can see the best one here.
But to me, there were two aspects of the church that I thought deserving of multiple pictures. The first, of course, was the sanctuary itself.
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The other very beautiful aspect of this church were the large stained glass windows, high up in the walls on either side of the sanctuary. There were eight of these- four on each side, and I spent a fair amount of time trying to get good pictures of each one of them. Most came out quite well, and if you use the clickable thumbnails below, you can have a look at them as well:
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When I was done in the Basilica, I went back out to the plaza and wandered around until I found the rest of the group, and we stopped to take stock of what we still wanted to do. We had the time, so Fred and I wanted to take the funicular down to Santa Cava, although no one else wanted to. So, we walked over to one of the cafes where MaryEllen, Jim and Greg settled down to have a glass of wine and wait for us. Fred snapped a picture as we were confirming how long we would be gone, and you can see that picture here.
Chapel Santa Cova
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When the ride began, I started filming. Since it was such a short ride, I thought I would film all of it. You can ride along with us using the player at left.
At the bottom, we came out of the funicular station and headed off to our right (southeast) on the mile or so walk to the chapel of Santa Cova.
One interesting aspect of the walk along the wide path that hugged the cliffs were the sculptures (and other artwork) that we encountered every so often on the way to the chapel. Each of these depicted some scene in the life of Jesus. We tried to take pictures of all of them, but not all of them had plaques or descriptions with their titles, so all you can do is really just have a look at them. You can see the first one that we encountered here, and you can click the thumbnails below to see seven more of them:
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The sculptures were very interesting, and the walk was very, very pleasant.
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And you can use the clickable thumbnails below to see four other artworks that we encountered on the path:
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The scenery along the walk was pretty impressive; it seemed as if you can see forever (and I did read that on clear days you can see all the way to Barcelona and the Mediterranean beyond). The trail was flat sometimes, and steep other times, and there were often broad, deep stairs.
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After about twenty minutes of walking, we came around a point and we could see Santa Cova ahead of us. Fred didn't think that picture really illustrated how the chapel was built right up against the cliff face, so when we got a more unobstructed view, he took another, slanting it somewhat to enhance the impression of a building hanging off the cliff face. It turned into an interesting picture, and you can have a look at it here. A bit more walking brought us to the entrance gate and we headed in for a look around.
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The relatively small building had incredible views out its alcove windows and, aside from the chapel itself, there were a number of other rooms- some of which were open for browsing. I could hear voices in some of the rooms whose doors were closed, and so I think that the chapel is probably used throughout the day for one purpose or another.
Fred and I walked around the chapel looking at everything, and we took pictures of anything that seemed interesting. These pictures are pretty eclectic, but you can use the various clickable thumbnails below to have a look at them:
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It was getting late, so we ended our visit to the Chapel of Santa Cova, retraced our path along the walk and in another twenty minutes were back at the funicular station for the ride back up. Another ten minutes later, and we were back in the cafe describing Santa Cova to MaryEllen, Jim and Greg who were just finishing up an afternoon snack. When they were finished, our group headed off back to the cable car for the ride back down the mountain.
Montserrat was a very interesting place; and quite amazing when you consider that much of it was built before there were a great many mechanical devices to help. I might quarrel with religion itself, but I can't deny that it has generated some amazing works of art and architecture. And we've only just made a dent in the number of amazing places we'll visit on this odyssey.
Before we leave Montserrat, there are a few additional pictures that we took of artwork and sculpture that we found around the monastery, up above or down below. Here are some clickable thumbnails for that final group of Montserrat pictures:
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Getting Back to Barcelona
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Since we had a few minutes before the next train, I walked down below the cable car station and to the other side of the bridge across the river to see what I could see. I could look north to the village of Manresa and of course I had a good view of the cable car station. I crossed back and rejoined everyone on the train platform.
Montserrat Aerie is the next-to-last stop as the train heads north, and these last two stops share a single track. So we waited in the sunlight for a train to pass through our station heading to Manresa and then return to pick us up. South of here the track splits and trains can pass each other. After waiting about thirty minutes, we were able to board our train, which we took all the way to Plaza Catalunya at the top of La Rambla.
Below are clickable thumbnails for some casual pictures taken on the train platform:
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If you have not already closed the window with the aerial view of Montserrat in it, now would be a good time.
Walking Down Barcelona's 'La Rambla'
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We walked through the plaza to give Jim and MaryEllen a look and then exited at the south corner by an interesting sculpture. This brought us to the top of La Rambla, and we intended to walk its length, ending up at the harbor a mile or so from the Noordam.
La Rambla ("the walk") is an incredible place. It is a combination park, artist colony, small vendor space, meeting space and demonstration venue. It is almost always busy; we were here at midnight last time, and there were just about as many people as this afternoon. It is a place to see and be seen- but not for the "jet set," but for everyone else. The wide walkway is tree-shaded, and there are one-way streets on either side. These streets are small- not broad avenues- and there are relative few cars on them; those that do drive by are usually going slowly because the streets are narrow, making the whole area very pedestrian-friendly. People walking La Rambla can easily cross those streets to patronize a restaurant, do some shopping in the stores that line the walk or go in and out of a hotel (there were a number of small, boutique hotels along the way).
Movies are a great way to experience La Rambla; here are a couple:
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Beginning our La Rambla Walk |
A Demonstration Passes By |
This was the first time that MaryEllen and Jim had been here, and they were very impressed, spending lots of time stopping and looking around.
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Very prevalent along the La Rambla were these florist kiosks and also a wide range of artists either performing or creating and selling artwork. The two movies below illustrate these common themes:
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Floral Kiosks at La Rambla |
Artists on La Rambla |
One place that we thought we should show MaryEllen and Jim was the huge food market just west of the La Rambla about a third of the way down, so we stepped off La Rambla for a while and went through it. You may have seen it on my album page four years ago, but to refresh your memory, click on the thumbnails below to see some pictures that we took here in the market today:
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Our walk on La Rambla was very, very pleasant and interesting, and it was nice to be able to show something new to MaryEllen and Jim. About two-third of the way down the walk, I asked my four friends to gather together so I could record the moment and use one of the monuments along La Rambla as a backdrop. You can see the resulting picture here.
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At the very top of the monument stands a 24-ft tall bronze statue of Columbus; it is atop a 130-ft tall Corinthian column. The statue was sculpted by Rafael Atché and is said to depict Columbus pointing towards the New World with his right hand, while holding a scroll in the left. The top the column underneath the statue is intricately carved, and you can see a nice closeup of it here. It is a commonly held belief that instead of pointing to the west towards the New World, the statue points east towards Columbus's supposed home city of Genoa. But the monument isn't oriented properly for that, and it is much more likely that the statue is situated in the current way simply to have Columbus point out to sea underscoring his achievements in naval exploration. The statue is atop a socle, on which the word "Tierra" (land) is inscribed.
The column, hung with a device bearing an anchor, stands on an octagonal pedestal from which four bronze winged victories or Phemes take flight towards the four corners of the world, above paired griffins. Four buttresses against the octagonal pedestal bear portrait medallions that depict persons related to Columbus.
Around the base of the monument are large lions that flank the four stairways up to the base; on the base are carved numerous figures, all of whom were associated with Columbus and/or his voyages in some way. There are also four carved figures seated against the buttresses that represent the four realms of Spain: the Principality of Catalonia, and the kingdoms of León, Aragon, and Castile. The monument is a popular meeting place, and is located in the center of a busy traffic circle.
There are two more pictures I'd like to include here; you can see one of the lions that faces east (towards the port headquarters) here, and one of Fred at the base of the monument here.
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There was another interesting building located on the north side of the circle.
This marked the end of our walk on La Rambla. I might mention that before Fred and I started walking around the Columbus monument and looking at the other buildings, MaryEllen, Jim and Greg had decided to hop a cab back to the ship, and they have left us on our own. It is our idea to walk back, to see what we can see.
If you have not already closed the aerial view of our La Rambla walk, you can do so now, as we have completed it.
Fred and I Walk Back to the Noordam
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We continued walking along the harbor for quite some distance- about a mile, I think. We stopped every so often to take pictures (not having a seaport anywhere near Dallas makes being in one interesting). Below are clickable thumbnails fo ra few of the best of these:
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Eventually, as you can see if you are following along on the aerial view, we came to the road that takes you out to the cruise ship terminal.
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The views in the harbor area weren't really spectacular, but in the fading afternoon light, I thought I would try my hand at a panoramic view taken from the bridge looking generally north and east. The result (after stitching three pictures together) is below:
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This has brought us to the end of our day's activities here in Barcelona and our trip to Montserrat. It was a very pleasant outing, and the presence of our friends MaryEllen and Jim made it more special.
When we got back on board, we decided to skip the gym as it was getting late, and we cleaned up and went up to the Lido Restaurant. We found it closed- or at least just the pizza station open. Come to find out that this evening, because of the late sailing time, the ship had a barbecue buffet out on deck, but that it had ended just before we got back. (Greg told us that he'd seen us walking slowly towards the ship from his vantage point up on the stern, and had called out to us to hurry, but of course we could neither see nor hear him.) As it turned out, having missed dinner, we decided to go on to the gym and eat later when the 11 o'clock buffet started up. We were frustrated in that, too, as they didn't have one this one evening, so we ended up with pizza and pasta about midnight. Then we were up on deck as the ship steamed out of port.
You can use the links below to continue to the album page for different day.
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May 17, 2012: A Day at Sea |
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May 15, 2012: Cartagena, Spain |
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Return to the Index for Our Cruise to Europe |
