Day 12: Barcelona

I met a fellow Malaysian at the previous hotel and he told me about this place just at the outskirts of Barcelona called Montserrat. A few day earlier I was curiously trawling through Google looking for Monasteries located on mountaintops and if they happened to have any in Europe. So it rang a bell when he mentioned it.  Montserrat is a mountain which hosts this Catholic monastery called the Santa Maria de Montserrat. 

We agreed to meet at the station at a designated time and travel together for the day. Somehow we did not manage to find each other. Perks of having your phone stolen while skinny dipping. The train ride wasn't too long, an hour or two at most. As usual I spent the time staring at the view passing us by, deep in thought. Life, purpose, all that jazz. I was headed to a church that day, so these things tend to linger your mind. 

Upon arriving, the second part of the trip if the ascend up the mountain which you will have the option of taking the cable car or tram. The view is magnificent just as you would imagine from seeing the pictures; a monastery smack on top of the mountain. These are places where Hollywood protagonists travel to for the purpose of seeking out the meaning of life and learn martial arts. 

The monastery itself is packed with tourists. Turns out that I was not the only one in on this little secret. There must be another way up the mountain as I don't remember seeing that many people on the train. As you walk into the main chapel, the isles are full of people. No one will ever know the purpose of their visit. Peace? Enlightenment? Or people like me, interested in it's beauty.