Montserrat was breathtaking. The landscape was very similar to Meteora, Greece but much more jagged. There are two theories: the Angels cut the mountain with a saw (serrated) to make a throne for Mary. The other more logical explanation is this area was also covered by a sea, like Meteora, with the same type of deposits that erode when the sea departs, but there was also a collision of the Teutonic plates, and I can see that because the peaks are so jagged. A basilica was built near a spot where a "tan Virgin Mary and Jesus" were found glowing in a cave. It's a long history, but we could have easily spent an entire day there. There are several hiking trails and a small, but outstanding museum. As it was Sunday, they had mass. They have a world famous boys choir which sang. The church was absolutely packed with good reason. The acoustics and interior make it a very special place indeed.
The church was packed for another reason as well; 9/11 is a very important date to the Catalonians because that's when they lost their battle to remain independent from Spain. There is a strong sentiment here for them to withdraw. Flags were hung everywhere today and we just missed the very peaceful rally of 500,000 people for independence. A number of them wore shirts which said " a punt" and a phrase under that which said the republic of Catalonia. As we don't speak Spanish we asked the hotel clerk and she said "a punt" means about. Very interesting catch phrase. There were lots of young people involved in the march
so it will be interesting to see where this goes.
Barcelona has been a wonderful surprise this far and we've just scratched the surface. I can't wait to visit some other places tomorrow!
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