Montserrat: a must visit if you are in Barcelona

 

We went to a spectacularly beautiful Benedictine monk mountain retreat about one hour from Barcelona. The religious importance combined with the breathtaking views of Montserrat (literally, serrated mountain) was simply remarkable. You can either take an organized tour or take a train and funicular on your own to get there.

the Funicular

For hubby, Montserrat was the highlight of our trip. Devotees, rock climbers and tourists flock to this mountain to see the views of the countryside and admire the amazing rock formations. Apart from the hearing Boys Choir which Montserrat is famous for, people go to there to venerate the Virgin of Montserrat (or La Moreneta), one of the black Madonnas of Europe. It was also the image upon which Ignatius of Loyola laid down his sword before later founding the Society of Jesus—a story close to the heart of my true-blue, Atenean friends.

Statue of St Ignatius of Loyola

The explanation we were given behind the black hands and face of La Moreneta was that the image had prolonged exposure to candle smoke or had a chemical reaction caused by a varnish used as a paint sealant. Since then, the statue was repainted black by successive generations of restorers.

La Moreneta

The basilica itself was beautiful with its gilded altar and wrought iron. Atop sits the Virgin of Montserrat which can be approached by the visitors by climbing some stairs to get to her altar.

The Basilica of Montserrat

Votive candles can also be purchased and lit in one of the many caverns.

Outside, you can hike on one of the many trails or visit the gift shop selling religious items and souvenirs. There was a monastery, of course, a cafeteria, and a museum including works of prominent painters such as El Greco, Dalí, Picasso and more. This place surely will meet various needs—whether it is a hike, retreat, views, shopping, art, religious devotion, and even food.

In the weekends, they have a farmer’s market where local farmers sell their produce. Hubby and I got some Mató de Montserrat (Catalan fresh cheese made from cows' or goats' milk, like cottage cheese) with honey for our snack.

Mató de Montserrat

Montserrat is definitely a must-visit if you are in Barcelona.

Barcelona on Dwellable

The highlight of our trip: Peñiscola and Barcelona

On our way to Barcelona, we stopped by Peñiscola to view the ancient castle of the ‘Spanish Pope’, used in the film El Cid. It was the first time we saw the coast in this trip (we were mostly inland) and what a lovely sight it was! We got our feet in the sand and in the waters (though we didn’t have time to swim or sunbathe) and it was just wonderful!

After our walk around the castle and more pictures of the waters, we checked out the narrow streets and shops. Most of the shops along the beach, though, sold beach wear and accessories. It may not be a shopping mecca but the views were just beautiful. Hubby and I wished we had more time to explore Peñiscola, but we were off to Barcelona so we were also eager to get going. 

The castle served as the Pope's residence

and was used as a set in El Cid

Statue of the Spanish Pope

Upon arriving in Barcelona, we immediately went on a city tour to enjoy panoramic views from Montjuïc. From this hill, we saw the famous Sagrada Familia of Gaudi, the Cathedral and the weird-looking pickle building (Torre Agbar, supposedly copied from London’s Gherkin building) which housed the water authority. You can also see the harbor from here which provided some fantastic photo ops! We drove to the top but you can also reach the top of the hill via funicular and gondola rides.

views from Montjuïc

Then, we went to the Sagrada Familia, one of the most famous buildings in Spain and its most visited. This time, we weren’t prepared and did not manage to secure a ticket to get inside. There were long lines of the folks who were trying to get in and did not plan for online tickets as well. Needless to say, our packed schedule only allowed us to be in awe of this masterpiece (monstrosity to others) from the outside. It was still unfinished despite having been under construction (following Antonio Gaudi’s plans) for over 130 years.

Sagrada familia

It was a very interesting structure. I don’t particularly hate it but I do not love it, either. What I liked about it, though, was its complexity, its history, and the rich detail of the nativity and passion facades. These facades depicted scenes from the birth and the passion and death of Jesus Christ. The locations of these facades in Gaudi’s plans were so amazing in the sense that it took into account the rising and setting of the sun to give each figure a play on light and shadow as appropriate for the scene. So, while the structure itself was not as beautiful as the Gothic cathedrals were for me, it was still magnificent.

In the evening, hubby and I took the subway down to the Port Olimpic. As with Seville, many structures in this city were built for World Expos or the Olympics. Anyway, at the port, there were so many bars and restaurants, it was so hard to pick where we would get our dinner!

Port Olimpic

We ended up at the La Barca del Salamanca. The place was quite big and had sample platters of what they had available. Hubby and I got a set menu which consisted of tapas, main dish, dessert, drinks and coffee. This time, hubby got the Paella Marinera or seafood paella and I got the cordero or lamb, another Spanish specialty. We had tapas of jamón, pescaditos fritos (fried small fish), chopitos (fried baby squid), mussels, shrimp, Galician-Style Octopus, and olives along with vino tinto (red wine) for hubby and cava (Spanish sparkling wine) for me. With all of that, you can imagine that by the time the main course arrived, we were almost full! It was a tough job, but we did what we had to do—finish the food! J Dessert was Crema Catalana which was really a Spanish speaking (or should I say, Catalan-speaking) crème brulée . After all of that eating (clean plates, mom!), we were given some green apple liqueur which was typically used as a digestive. It did come with some more pastries so we weren’t quite sure the digestive would do the trick. As well, after the coffee, we had quite enough food in our stomachs to last us until lunch the next day. It was our best dinner in Spain! And breakfast and lunch…

We decided to walk off all those pounds by going to see the spectacular performance of water, music and lights of the Magic Fountain near Plaça d'Espanya. It was not Bellagio but it was different and fun. The place was lively and folks were there to have a good time. In the other cities we visited (with the exception of Granada), we usually tried to make it back to the hotel before it gets really dark. However, we left the fountains only about an hour before midnight. We took the subway and yet we felt safe in this city at this hour. It was a lovely evening, indeed.

Fountain near Plaça d'Espanya

Okay, okay, I know we swore we were too full, but the next day, we couldn’t resist having a light lunch of tapas—calamares (fried squid rings) and roasted Galician peppers with more cava at the La Boqueria Market. We were there so how can we not have something to eat?! It was a lively market, quite like Toronto’s St. Lawrence market, filled with stalls selling meat, seafood, and sweets among others.

La Boqueria Market

Outside, we walked along the very vibrant Las Ramblas, a long street packed (and I mean, PACKED) with thousands of people soaking up the atmosphere. There were many souvenir shops and name-brand stores as well as kiosks of local crafts. It was an experience in itself. At the north end is the Plaça Catalunya with even more shopping—among which is the El Corte Ingles with 7 floors of shopping!

Las Ramblas

There were so many places to visit in Barcelona—beaches, hills, beautiful cathedrals, grand fountains and interesting Gaudi structures (there were a couple of others apart from the Sagrada Familia that we saw). 

It was like being in a different country (with its own language, Catalan which reflects their move to separate from the rest of Spain). A country to visit has been checked off my bucket list (and many things checked off my foodie list). Nice!

Barcelona on Dwellable

Guadix-Valencia: from caves to space-age!

We broke our lengthy trip to Valencia from Granada with a stopover at Guadix. We visited one of the cave dwellings which were typical of the area. This type of dwelling, though not quite common, can also be found in other parts of the world. I saw there were some in Australia in one of the HGTV shows.

Anyway, the house was very interesting and cool, literally-- well, because we were in a cave! Temperatures inside the caves ranged from 18-21 degrees we were told. What a welcome delight from the summer heat we’d been having! There was just the main entry to the hallway where you have the kitchen, living and dining room. Toilets were outside for practical purposes of plumbing. It took years of digging and excavation to build these and include additions such as bedrooms and second levels. Like other houses, they had electricity and pay for utilities and property taxes as well.

After this stop over, we headed to Valencia. Our first stop in Valencia was the City of Arts and Sciences. This ultra-modern complex was just over the top!

It had the Hemisfèric (IMAX cinema and digital projections), the Umbracle (a landscaped viewing deck and car park), the Príncipe Felipe Science Museum, the Oceanográfico (the largest aquarium in Europe), the Agora (venue for concerts and exhibits) and the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía (opera house). We did not get a chance to go inside these buildings, we only marveled at the fantastic architecture by Calatrava from the outside. This complex (which easily cost billions) seemed to exemplify the extravagance of the government in the midst of or which largely contributed to their financial struggles. It was pretty, though, and made for some fantastic pictures.

In Valencia, we visited the Metropolitan Cathedral–Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady of Valencia which claimed to have the true Holy Grail. For a fee, you can check this out. This was another beautiful Gothic cathedral which was built over a mosque of the Moors.

Valencia is a big city, the third largest in Spain after Madrid and Barcelona, and known for its oranges and paella (a traditional Spanish rice dish with vegetables and meat).

Paella is a dish I absolutely LOVE—so much so that I ate it anytime it was available (even in service centre stops!). This is also the reason for the extra pounds I mentioned that I brought home with me! It wasn’t all the jamón, right? All the jamón I ate will probably manifest itself in a future cholesterol issue. But until then, whether it is jamón or paella, it was well-worth it! Ask me again in December when holiday eating commences.

Now, all that eating should be washed down with something. As it was the summer, many places sold granizado de limón or frozen lemonade. But we decided to try something we haven’t had before-- horchata. We were advised that in Spain, we should do as the locals do—and what they do in the summer is go “café-ing.” I did not invent the word; that was really how they called it (having tapas is actually called “tapa-ing”). Talk about keeping things simple. We went to an Horchateria to sample this popular summer drink made from the tubers of the nut sedge plant (called chufas), hence the name horchata de chufa. It had a white, milky appearance and was served ice cold. The taste was like a cross between soy milk and some sort of yam smoothie. It was delicious and definitely refreshing!

We walked along the plaza and checked out some shops after our drink. That night, it was a dinner of (guess what?) paella! I was in Valencia after all! Breakfast was with freshly squeezed Valencia oranges, of course! Yum! Wasn’t this a foodie trip? I forget now, I was too full.

I love Granada! Amo a Granada!

On our way to Granada from Seville, we passed by acres and acres of olive trees and sunflowers (both grown for their oil) along the way. I’ve never seen so many olive trees in my life! Spain is the largest producer of olive oil so it was quite usual for us to have olive oil and vinegar in every meal. EVOO  (Rachel Ray's moniker for Extra Virgin Olive Oil) has so many health benefits that hubby was convinced he should consume more of it—daily. 

We stopped by one of the olive orchards in Carmona to do some olive oil tasting. Olive oil is the only oil that can be consumed as it is, freshly pressed, without chemical refinement. The EVOO we tasted was pretty interesting. It smelled of freshly cut grass and tomatoes. And after warming the stemless, dark blue goblet in our hands, we swished it in our mouths.  We didn’t quite expect it to have a spicy taste right down the throat. It was nice!  We also tried it with some yogurt which was a pretty good combination. 

After we got some olive oil-based goodies, we walked around Carmona just to look at some lovely houses and have some churros :)

Then, we were off to Granada to visit yet another UNESCO World Heritage site. It was probably the best of the palaces we have seen, the Alhambra palace. We had gathered that it was quite difficult to secure tickets to this place. They encouraged online purchase of tickets and have limited number of guests at a given time. Our tickets had a time slot and we could only enter within a certain window from that. We also had to show our tickets about three times—each time our tickets were scanned to signal that we had already entered an area of the palace. It was great crowd control!

This walled city became the royal residence of the first monarch of the Nasrid dynasty in the 13^th-14^th century. It had the sultan’s palace and included residences of senior officials. We also saw the palace’s harem and separate wings for the wives and the concubines. Outside the fortress, the dwellings of the workers can be found. The palace grounds also had fantastic views of the city beyond and the Sierra Nevadas (snow-capped mountain range in Andalucia).

The palace itself was really beautiful, with delicate works of plaster and gilded moldings. The arches were intricately carved and the ceilings were a sight to behold. It was such a great example of Moorish architecture! Another interesting thing we learned was that the water from the fountains came from the mountains and ran only from gravity! And to eliminate eye sores, there were no trashcans or such in sight. Instead, there were ceramic basins in alcoves and hallways for the garbage.

After the Catholic Monarchs had taken the city of Granada, there were several restorations. Rooms have been added to the Alhambra and the Palacio de Carlos V (Charles V palace) was also built. Nevertheless, the Alhambra still had the character of a Muslim palace. 

The Generalife (pronounced henera-li-fe and not at all like the insurance firm) is a garden area attached to the Alhambra and was a place of rest and recreation for the Muslim kings. The beautifully manicured gardens indeed evoked feelings of relaxation as we walked through. An auditorium had been built in the midst of the gardens where they now hold dance shows and concerts. I can just imagine how awesome it would be to be able to attend such an event, surrounded by all the trees and flowers. Oh, and not surprisingly, the Generalife was also declared a UNESCO World Heritage site.

It took us about 3 hours to go through the Alhambra and the Generalife. It would have been nicer to stay longer but as mentioned, the entries and duration of visit were timed.

We continued our exploration of Granada during dinner. We walked around the Puerto Real and Plaza Nueva. There were a lot of tapas restaurants and many stores—crafts, souvenirs and designer. We also got some pionono, a popular jelly roll pasty in Spain (and in the Philippines)!  Definitely touristy, but we loved that this place was vibrant.   As in other cities we have visited, the architecture of the buildings, both residential and commercial, were so beautiful it brought about fantasies of living here. Yes, I do think I could live here...Granada was definitely one of our favorite cities. Hubby and I absolutely loved it!