Montserrat

We bade Debye & Jody adios, disembarked, hopped in a taxi, and headed to our Sixt car rental. It was midday and we were headed northwest of Barcelona to the serrated mountains above Montserrat. Following hairpin turns we climbed to the top for fabulous views of the Catalonian countryside.

We meandered through local farm wares, decided not to take the funicular and roamed through the Benedictine monastery housing the black Madonna. We have visited cathedrals, basilicas, churches and abbeys across Europe. There are few that invoke a sense of pure reverence. Sainte Chapelle in Paris, France. Basilica of St Francis in Assisi, Italy. Add Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey to my favorites.

We watched the sun set behind the mountains as we worked our way back down the switchbacks and headed toward Madrid. The cruise piece of the trip was fairly well planned. This portion of the trip was to be more spontaneous. We stopped in Lleida at Hotel Zenit. Walked a few blocks before deciding to take dinner at the hotel restaurant. We were delighted with our fare, wine and rooms…until the middle of the night when we couldn’t figure out how to turn the heater down/off. Whew. This menopausal woman does not do well in temps above 68 Fahrenheit at night. That would be 20 Celsius. Our temp in the room was stuck on 27 (about 80 Fahrenheit). We fussed at either other, opened the window, but didn’t even think about calling the desk. Not our best...night's sleep.