Montserrat

I am moving back to Ireland in a couple of days, so I've been trying to think of things that I should really see or do in Barcelona before I leave. High up on this list was a trip to Montserrat. For those of you too lazy to follow that link, it is a mountain in Catalunya with a series of oddly shaped rocks. It is famous as a centre for Christian pilgrimage as there is a monastery there with a statue of the Virgin Mary which is famous for its black skin (which leads one to wonder how a black woman could have given birth to Jesus, who, as we all know, was a fair-haired Aryan sort of character who, no doubt, looked very out of place when he lived in Galilee). It was also apparently a centre of resistance to fascist rule in Spain. In any case, it's quite a nice looking sort of place and I very much recommend it to anybody who happens to be in the area.

I took some photos while there. Here is one of the Black Virgin:

Here are some random photos of the mountains:


It's reasonably high up. We took the "funicular" up to the mountains and then there are a series of paths that lead to different parts of the mountain. We wandered off the beaten track and climbed up through the undergrowth to one of the peaks. It took a while, but it was very rewarding. The girl in the photo above (Anna) was wearing beach sandals which added a new dimension of excitement to mountain climbing. It was particularly hilarious when we met a couple of serious mountain climbers in hard hats and with ropes and miscellaneous climbing gear. I think they were a bit put out that a girl in sandals had made it that far...
Here is a particularly great photo:


I'm considering bringing that hoodie with me to other religious sites and making an album of sacrilege across Europe. Watch this space...