It also makes the heart skip beats, and singes your nose hairs, and makes your eyes water, and looks like cloudy urine, and tastes like black licorice.
But hey, when in Rome (or Spain as the case may be), do as the Spaniards and just do stuff you can’t legally do in the US.
The New York Times told us to do it. And they were right about Bar Marsella:
…with its ceiling stained caramel from centuries of cigarette smoke, and the feeble light that shimmers from its ridiculously ornate electric chandeliers, this nearly 200-year-old bar— reputedly the oldest in Barcelona — feels more late-night than most.
And I tell ya, I don’t think they have painted the place once since then. It’s quite an antique.
Authored by: Digital Knowmadd on September 4, 2008.
Filed under: Europe,Spain,Travel | 1 Comment »
About 60km northwest of Barcelona lies a small village called Monistrol de Montserrat. Perched high up in the mountains (and I do mean high up) is Santa Maria de Montserrat, a Benedictine abbey.
It offers some spectacular views once you get up there. Just how you get up there is up to you. You could take one of the tour buses (lame) or you could take a cable car (sweet). Since we are awesome, we took a cable car.
Here’s a view on the way up of the village below.
Still ascending…
Once you’ve completed the ascent, 4055 feet up, you can walk even further up some stairs to the main plaza where you will find “La Moreneta” (the black virgin), which is Catalonia’s favorite saint. Rumor has it, it’s also the location of the Holy Grail as well! The queue to see the virgin was way too long so we roamed the grounds instead in an attempt to find the Holy Grail.
We didn’t see it anywhere down there…
So we rearranged some of the stones in this statue to get a better view…
Our efforts proved to be fruitless, so we just went to the cafeteria and ordered some fruit instead, and ate it while dangling on the edge of the world…
That’s when we got the idea that we just weren’t high enough yet, and needed more elevation (elevation: not to be confused with cow bells). It just so happens I am a funicular fanatic, and just my luck they had not one, but TWO funiculars. Funicular de Sant Joan climbs up the side of the mountain at a maximum steepness of 65%!! These nuns really know how to put the fun in FUNicular!
How’s this for a stunning view!?
Still not satisfied, we made the adventuorus decision to hike up EVEN FURTHER where there are various abandoned hovels in the cliff faces that were previously the abodes of reclusive monks.
And abandoned shrines high atop the cliffs.
REALLY high up.
Incidentally “Montserrat” literally means “jagged (serrated) mountain” in Catalan, and here you can see where it gets it’s name.
Despite our best efforts to find the Holy Grail, we had to call it a day as the last funicular of the day was leaving, and even though there were plenty of caves in the side of the mountain to provide shelter, we forgot our flint at home. So it was back down, down, down…
Authored by: Digital Knowmadd on September 4, 2008.
Filed under: Europe,Spain,Travel | 3 Comments »
