Another busy week in Barcelona has gone by! It is finally starting to get nice here--today I wore a dress! The city is absolutely beautiful and full of life when it is sunny outside...something about that breeze blowing in off the Mediterranean, I guess! Yesterday, I went to Montserrat with some kids from my program and my Spanish class. It was free for my class because we won a scavenger hunt around Barcelona during the first week of school, so that was awesome.
Montserrat ("Serrated Mountain" in Catalán) is a mountain range about an hour outside of Barcelona that is home to a Benedictine monastery that houses the world-famous sculpture of La Moreneta ("Black Madonna"), the patron saint of Catalonia since the 1800s. When we arrived at the mountain, we embarked on a MASSIVE hike that was almost all uphill. Of course, you all know that I'm used to hiking in Yosemite, but Yosemite had nothing on this hike. We basically scaled a mountain in a little under 2 hours. Despite the difficulty of the hike, the scenery around us was beautiful, and it was such a perfectly clear day that we had a great view of the Pyrenees Mountains in the distance, as well as Barcelona and the Mediterranean Sea.
When we finally reached the top of the summit we were climbing, we were greeted with views of some of the shrines the monks of Montserrat had created in the side of the mountains, as well as the hermitage of Sant Joan where monks would live alone for years at a time. The hike was amazing, despite the physical toll it took on me, and needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed the plate of pasta I had when we descended!
After lunch, we went to the Museum of Montserrat which, for being located on the side of a mountain, actually had quite the collection. In addition to having an Egyptian mummy, the museum also has beautiful paintings by Caravaggio, Monet, Degas, Picasso, and Dalí, who were just some of the artists inspired by the natural beauty of Montserrat. One of Picasso's paintings of an old sailor that he painted when he was fourteen was absolutely incredible. I fully support Spain's obsession with Picasso as he is possibly one of the most talented artists in the world.
Just before we left, we had the opportunity to go to the 16th century basilica of Montserrat which is located next to the museum. After standing in line for some time, I was able to see La Moreneta, and touch the globe that she holds in her hand. The sculpture of La Moreneta dates to the 12th century, and was created to commemorate a vision of the Virgin at Montserrat. It is considered a very important statue because it is the world's first "black" Madonna. However, in 2002, it was discovered that the statue isn't really black, but got its dark color from centuries of candle smoke slowly "tanning" it.
The visit to Montserrat was a great experience--despite my sore muscles today, I had a wonderful time exploring the mountain, and it was really nice to be out in nature for once, and not in the crowded city.
Expounding on those feelings, my roommates and I decided to go to Montjuïc today because the weather was so nice. Montjuïc is a hill overlooking Barcelona that is filled with art museums and parks, and is a beautiful place to escape the busy city for a few hours. We started out by going to the Botanical Gardens, which were small but still very nice to just sit in and soak up the sun. Afterwords, we walked around and looked at the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, which houses mainly Catalan art from the 12th century up until the early 20th century. We didn't go inside, because the museum is free, and we decided to enjoy the day rather than being inside.
All in all, I had a wonderful, nature-filled, and peaceful weekend. I am off to an Irish pub to watch the Super Bowl tonight (on at midnight my time and ending somewhere around 6 AM), and next weekend, I will be heading down to the beach town of Sitges for Carnivale, which is spearheaded by the gay and lesbian community there and should be a blast!
Lots of love,
Kelsey
Montserrat ("Serrated Mountain" in Catalán) is a mountain range about an hour outside of Barcelona that is home to a Benedictine monastery that houses the world-famous sculpture of La Moreneta ("Black Madonna"), the patron saint of Catalonia since the 1800s. When we arrived at the mountain, we embarked on a MASSIVE hike that was almost all uphill. Of course, you all know that I'm used to hiking in Yosemite, but Yosemite had nothing on this hike. We basically scaled a mountain in a little under 2 hours. Despite the difficulty of the hike, the scenery around us was beautiful, and it was such a perfectly clear day that we had a great view of the Pyrenees Mountains in the distance, as well as Barcelona and the Mediterranean Sea.
When we finally reached the top of the summit we were climbing, we were greeted with views of some of the shrines the monks of Montserrat had created in the side of the mountains, as well as the hermitage of Sant Joan where monks would live alone for years at a time. The hike was amazing, despite the physical toll it took on me, and needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed the plate of pasta I had when we descended!After lunch, we went to the Museum of Montserrat which, for being located on the side of a mountain, actually had quite the collection. In addition to having an Egyptian mummy, the museum also has beautiful paintings by Caravaggio, Monet, Degas, Picasso, and Dalí, who were just some of the artists inspired by the natural beauty of Montserrat. One of Picasso's paintings of an old sailor that he painted when he was fourteen was absolutely incredible. I fully support Spain's obsession with Picasso as he is possibly one of the most talented artists in the world.
Just before we left, we had the opportunity to go to the 16th century basilica of Montserrat which is located next to the museum. After standing in line for some time, I was able to see La Moreneta, and touch the globe that she holds in her hand. The sculpture of La Moreneta dates to the 12th century, and was created to commemorate a vision of the Virgin at Montserrat. It is considered a very important statue because it is the world's first "black" Madonna. However, in 2002, it was discovered that the statue isn't really black, but got its dark color from centuries of candle smoke slowly "tanning" it.
The visit to Montserrat was a great experience--despite my sore muscles today, I had a wonderful time exploring the mountain, and it was really nice to be out in nature for once, and not in the crowded city.Expounding on those feelings, my roommates and I decided to go to Montjuïc today because the weather was so nice. Montjuïc is a hill overlooking Barcelona that is filled with art museums and parks, and is a beautiful place to escape the busy city for a few hours. We started out by going to the Botanical Gardens, which were small but still very nice to just sit in and soak up the sun. Afterwords, we walked around and looked at the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, which houses mainly Catalan art from the 12th century up until the early 20th century. We didn't go inside, because the museum is free, and we decided to enjoy the day rather than being inside.
All in all, I had a wonderful, nature-filled, and peaceful weekend. I am off to an Irish pub to watch the Super Bowl tonight (on at midnight my time and ending somewhere around 6 AM), and next weekend, I will be heading down to the beach town of Sitges for Carnivale, which is spearheaded by the gay and lesbian community there and should be a blast!
Lots of love,
Kelsey
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