Marianne and I enjoyed a brisk walk in our New York neighborhood to enjoy a beautiful fall day before flying to Barcelona.

We were ready to enjoy are Barcelona layover.

On our way by train to the Monserrat Monastery.

MONSERRAT

The Monastery of Montserrat is one of the most famous monasteries in the world. Monserrat is a spectacular beautiful Benedictine monk mountain retreat about 1 hour North West from Barcelona by train. Not only is Montserrat Monastery of significant religious importance but the natural beauty surrounding the monastery is simply breathtaking. It is now a National Park and great for hiking. It was mind blowing to realize how high up the mountain the monastery was.

Marianne and I thought we were so prepared for this adventure. We purchased a train ticket to Monserrat in Barcelona which included transportation up the mountain. We disembarked at the last Monserrat station with a crowd of people only to find out that we purchased the train ticket that included a funicular (gondola) ride up the mountain to the monastery. To our dismay, we found out the stop we needed to get off was the stop before the one we were at. Unfortunately the train going back in that direction was in 1 hour. Our goal was to hear the boys choir at 12 noon. If we waited for that train, we would miss the boys choir. It would be a 10 minute taxi ride, but there was no taxis in sight. I heard 2 American boys from Oregon complaining that they were in the same situation as us. The boys were calling for a taxi. We asked if we could join them. They pleasantly agreed.

The taxi arrived in 10 minutes. Time was ticking. Our taxi ride was slower than expected because of a bike race. We had to let 100s of bikers go by before getting on our way back to the funicular. With all our delays, we were still going to make it in time to hear the boys choir.

The funicular ride offered us a spectacular panoramic view of the Monserrat mountain and the monastery.

There was a tranquil , untouched beauty that we discovered at the Monserrat.

Boys Choir In Monserrat

The Boys Choir is home to one of the oldest boys choir in Europe. Documents show that the existence of a religious and music school goes as far back as the 14th century. Listening to the Boys Choir was going to be the highlight of our trip. We made our way to where the boys would be singing. We quickly found out the choir would only be singing at the noon mass which we needed a reservation for. Unfortunately, the mass was full. A nice usher took pity on us and opened a roped off area into a courtyard so we could listen to the mass on a screen.

It was hard to hear the boys choir on the screen, but we were blessed to be able to go into the church and receive communion.

After mass, Marianne and I lit a candle asking Virgin Mary for our prayers

We then continued to take in the beauty of the grounds.

Monserrat offered us a captivating day of spirituality and natural beauty. We left awestruck with the stunning landscape high above where the angels do sing.