I was briefly woken up at 06:00 by the church bells calling the monks to the first service of the day. Normally, this would probably have irritated me, but on this occasion, it put a smile on my face. I also heard an owl hooting in the woodland in front of our window. I did fall asleep again and we woke up shortly after 08:00. At this stage, we got up and ready. I took a quick photo of the view from our window and then we headed downstairs for breakfast.
Breakfast was another thing that got very unfavourable reviews. Most reviews stated that although the quality of the food was good, the selection was limited. I think this is down to cultural differences. The big international chains in Barcelona may well serve a full English or American breakfast, but this is not really a thing in Spain. We found the choice to be excellent and the food to be tasty. Graham had various cold cuts, cheese, boiled eggs, bread rolls and fruit. He then went back for some more fruit and yoghurt. I had boiled eggs, Spanish omelette, tomato salsa and some cheese. I also had some fruit and Crema Catalana. The only thing that surprised us that there was no coffee. Still, they had a nice selection of fruit juices, and we had a couple of glasses of juice each.
After breakfast, we headed back to the room to pick up what we needed for the day. Then we headed out. We saw the strangest thing that morning. The monastery was shrouded in low cloud. Yet there was clear blue sky above the mountains. If there was thick cloud on the mountain, this would have put paid to our plans for that day. However, as it looked clear higher up, we decided to give it a go and figured we could always turn around if it was cloudy up top.
We had decided that the bottle of water that I had bought the previous day was too bulky and heavy. We stopped by the supermarket to pick up two smaller bottles of water. Then we headed to the funicular station. This was the quietest I had ever seen this. We purchased our tickets and where the first in line for the next funicular, which arrived shortly afterwards. We managed to get seats at the front of the funicular. I was talking to a couple from the USA who had about 20 minutes before they had had to take the funicular back down. I recommended that they headed to the balcony in the little museum that is right above the funicular station as they would get some fantastic views without needing a lot of time.
We bypassed the museum on this occasion and followed the signposts for the trail to Sant Jeroni. Sant Jeroni is the highest point at Montserrat. The hike from the funicular station at the top to Sant Jeroni is considered to be moderate. Thankfully, it was a beautiful clear day at the top of the mountain. The first part of the trail lulled me into a false sense of security. It was a smooth gravel trail that was wide and fairly flat. The first section of elevation gain was via some stairs that provided some amazing views over the adjacent mountains. After this, the trail got narrower. There were also a lot of rocks and roots on the trail. There were a few up and down sections. At two points along the trail, there were some amazing views over the monastery.
There was a surprising number of trees around. They provided some welcome shade. Every now and again, there was a clearing providing more amazing views. At some stage, stairs were leading up to a viewpoint. We took this slight detour and were rewarded with some amazing panoramic views of the opposite valley from the trail. After we had enjoyed the views for a while, we headed back down the stairs and onto the trail. The trail continued going up and down. Some parts were very smooth, and others were a quite rough.
At some point we came to an area with an amazing view of the adjacent mountains. There was also a nice big rock that was fairly flat on the opposite side of the trail. We sat down and had some of our water while enjoying the spectacular views. If I had needed convincing, at this stage I would definitely have realised that Montserrat is a very special place. Not only was what we were seeing very pretty, but you could really appreciate the unique topography of the place.
Although we could happily have spent hours there just enjoying the view, we both decided that we needed to move on before we started to stiffen up. The next part of the trail went first through a narrow rock canyon and then through some more woodland. Some of the trickiest parts of the trail were in that area. Eventually we came to a fork with the trail that leads back straight to the monastery. There was a sign at this fork advising that it was a further 20 minutes to Sant Jeroni and also showed a significant elevation gain. We both agreed that 20 minutes was probably highly optimistic. I was torn. I really wanted to make to make it to the submit of Sant Jeroni. We were following an ancient pilgrimage route and indeed, it was a personal pilgrimage of sorts for me. Ever since I had been diagnosed with arthritis last year, I had been pushing myself and making it to the summit would have been an amazing achievement. However, you do have to work within your limitations. I had no doubt that I could have made it to the summit, but the issue with this was that we had to come back again. Ironically, my knee did not say a peep. What made me admit that I was done was that I was starting to struggle with the heat and it was not even the hottest part of the day yet. Graham was quite relieved that I had decided it was time to turn around.
There was another suitable rock to sit on near the fork. This one had the advantage of being in the shade. We sat down for a bit and shared the rest of the first bottle of water. Then we started the walk back towards the funicular station. I was a little concerned as I normally find going uphill easier than going downhill. However, we made quick progress. We had a further stop for some water near where the overlook was. I was relieved when we came to the first area from which we could see the monastery. There was a plateau just below the trail in that area. We were joking that they should have a zipline down to the monastery.
We took another pitstop between the two areas from where you can see the monastery. There was a low wall in a wooded area that looked very inviting. We sat down for a while and finished off the water. Then we pushed on towards the funicular station. We were in luck again. Just as we got to the station, the funicular pulled in. We had a short wait while the funicular unloaded and then we were able to get on board. Soon we were back at the monastery. For some reason, the path leading from the exit of the funicular down to the square is always muddy. I am never keen on mud, but I was decidedly less than thrilled about the combination of shaky knees and mud. Fortunately, I did not take a tumble.
At some point during the walk back to the funicular, we decided that we had deserved a beer. Even though I rarely drink beer, I do like the local beer in Barcelona, Estrella Damm. The reason I don’t normally gravitate towards beer is that I dislike the bitterness. Estrella Damm has just a hint of bitterness and an almost fruity quality. This is very refreshing. We had a large beer each and some artisan olive oil crisps. Graham also had the local take on a doughnut and I picked up a bottle of Coke to take back to the room. Everything hit the spot.
When we got to the room, we decided to have some downtime. I had planned to read. Fortunately, it had set an alarm. Graham was asleep straightaway, and I did not even make it to the end of the first page before I was asleep as well.
I had set the alarm for 18:00. We had a dinner reservation for 19:30. I figured I could quickly get showered and changed and then make it to the basilica to see the black Madonna just before this area closed for the day. That was not how this panned out. I found that I was moving rather slowly. By the time I was finally ready, it was nearly 19:00. Graham was ready shortly afterwards and we headed out together.
Our reservation was for Restaurant Abat Cisneros. This is attached to the hotel where I had checked in the day before. I did not see the day before where the restaurant was. I figured that access might be from the hotel and if not, the staff at reception could point us in the right direction. As soon as we entered the hotel, I saw signs for the restaurant. We went to the check in desk for the restaurant and were advised that they only opened at 19:30. Graham went to sit down in the adjacent breakfast area, and I went outside to get some photo. Even though I could not see it with my eyes, the camera picked up on the beginnings of a sunset.
When I went back inside, I went to get Graham and then we headed back to the check in desk. We were the first people to be seated. Restaurant Abat Cisneros serves Catalan cuisine. The main dining area is unique. The walls are natural rock, and it has an arched stone ceiling. There are some cave paintings on the wall and considering that they are protected by acrylic panels, I assumed that they were the genuine article. The restaurant serves a seasonal set three course menu for €27.50 per person with a small number of options for each course. When I originally researched this, it felt like a lot of money, but this is just because we never really have three courses. For the amount of food, we got and considering the quality of the food, it was actually a bit of a bargain. Graham had a pea and asparagus risotto for his starter. I had gone for sausage with potato salad. This had turned out very different from what I had expected. The “sausage” was a selection of cold cuts, cheeses, boiled egg, and salad vegetables. Most of this was lovely, but I was not keen on one of the options which turned out to be blood sausage. The first fork of the “potato salad” was delightful and this was just potato, peas, carrots, and some kind of dressing. However, with the second fork, I noticed that this contained tuna. I don’t eat fish. Graham had the rest of the potato salad.
This made me nervous for the rest of the meal. The main course that I had chosen was listed as pork secret with garnish. I started to wonder what kind of secrets the pork contained. I need not have worried. They just made a rather literal translation from Spanish. The dish referred to Ibérico Pork Secreto. This comes from the black Iberian pigs native to Spain and Portugal that produce marbled meat rather than meat with a fat layer on top. The cut comes from the area between the shoulder blade and the loin. The pork was seasoned to perfection and grilled. It was tender and had a lovely flavour. The garnish consisted of fries and fried Padrón peppers. This was such an amazing dish. It was so simple yet delicious. Graham had the Catalan chicken with prunes, dried apricots, and cinnamon. He was a bit in two minds about this when he ordered it, but he absolutely loved it. He told me that it reminded him of cassoulet, which is something he loves. Montserrat monastery produces a delicious cava. I developed a taste for this on our first visit. They had this on the menu and at €16 for a bottle, this was an absolute bargain by restaurant standards. This nicely complemented our meals.
For his dessert, Graham went with the Crema Catalana, and I had ordered another mystery. On the menu it was listed as chocolate coolant with ice cream. I had no idea what to expect. I did however figure that you cannot go wrong with chocolate and ice cream. What I ended up with was a cross between a flourless chocolate cake and a lava cake. This was very decadent. The whole meal was a joy. The ambience was very special; the service was attentive without being obtrusive and the food was delicious. It was not the restaurant’s fault that I made the wrong choice with my starter.
After dinner, we headed back to our accommodation. We took a different route around the back of the apartments, which then led us to stairs back down to our square. When we got back to our room, I packed what I no longer needed. Graham left what little packing he had to do for the following morning. Once I had finished my packing, I read for a bit and then I fell asleep.
Dolphingirl’s Travels 
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