5.19.2019 update after Barcelona

We had to be up at 6am in Barcelona to go through European customs and have our passports stamped.  Every non-European passenger had to do the same.  It’s so that the EU knows when we entered the EU.  Apparently, there can be problems at the airports leaving the EU without the passport stamp.

We left customs and took a tour to Montserrat, a centuries old Benedictine Monastery.  It is huge, built up in the mountains with the same name.  Montserrat means serrated mountain and the name fits.  The mountains are jagged, but they are not sharp.  That sounds contradictory but the points are rounded from centuries of erosion.

The monastery itself is huge.  There are 55 monks that live here, but there is a hotel, shops, a café and other amenities for tourists.  The hotel must be booked for a minimum of three days at 75 Euros a night.  The “cells”, as they call the smaller rooms, are 180 square meters and only about 30 Euros a night.  Maid service is not included, you must make your own bed, etc.

There is a beautiful church that we were able to visit and photograph.  It had votive candles and we bought two, one for John’s mom and one for Doonus.  It was the one-year anniversary of John’s mom passing.

They have the steepest funicular we have seen.  Two cars use it, one up while the other down.  The cars share one setoff tracks that divide into two midway up the mountain so the cars can pass each other.  There is a cable car that goes somewhere way down the mountain and a train that comes in often. Several thousand cars visit each day and pay seven Euros per car.  Busses pay 58 Euros.  It is a money-making operation.

We came back to ship for a quick bite and then took the shuttle into town where we walked the Ramblas, the touristy shopping district.  It is a long, divided, avenue with an island between car lanes. The island is about four or five car lanes wide with tent shops on each side and a wide walkway down the center.  There are regular shops on the sides of the street as well as a large covered food market.  Fruit, vegetables, meats, nuts and more were beautifully displayed in separate stalls.  John was approached by a policeman who indicated that the back pack should be worn on the front. 

  

Pickpockets are many if the crowded areas of European large cities and the market was extremely packed with people.

Tomorrow we will be in Gibraltar, UK.  More after that.