The train out to Montserrat was uneventful. Pretty scrappy dorm suburbs and scatchy market orchards. The young man beside me could have done with a shower. Whilst the trip was uneventful, the lack of sleep meant we were both a little unattentive and got off at the wrong stop. Apparently the telerifico and the cremellera head up the mountain from different places. Oh well. An extra €13 can solve that rather than have to wait an hour for the next tram. So up the telerifico we went. Lovely looking mountains with some cabras ibericas (goats) clinging to the steep slopes.
We wanted to head further up on the funicular, but the car was full and rather than wait twenty minutes we thought we would walk....well I did. We discovered that Spaniards, or at least catalanes, have discovered exercise. Also that tight gym pants are the proper gear for a walk in the great outdoors. Beware, Rafael in walking Lycra cannot be too far away.
About half way Marjan wanted to head back down....I knew better ( in case you're wondering this bit is the crime). We did make it up to the top of the funicular station, but Marjan was quite tired. I, being manly and macho and all, walked up to the hermitage of St Joan Baptista and San Ofre. Essentially this is a natural cave on the edge of one of the serrated bits of mountain that give the place it's name. Lovely country, great views. Apparently you can see all of Catalunya from the top and every Catalan child is encouraged to sleep overnight and see the sun rise on the Catalan nation.
The whole Catalan thing is doing me in. I am all for people having self determination, I just find the insidious and constant propaganda a pain. It strike me as less as confident adult and more as whining, insecure teen who reckons independence is emptying out the dishwasher once a week even if the dishes aren't clean. Sorry for the digression but the stuff is everywhere and eventually you respond.
Rode the furnicular back down after a picnic lunch and checked out the abbey, church and associated buildings and views. What is special is where this is. Must have been a bugger getting the materials up here. That black Virgin de Montserrat is apparently a bit of a pilgrimage site and the queue to touch the statue was very long. We don't queue . So we just enjoyed the building.
Back down on the cremellera train this time and back to Barcelona . Somewhere between the main train and our apartment my phone was either lost or stolen (the punishment).
After a bit of a mope and rest we headed off once more into the night. We had finally finished eating the slab of tuna we bought the first time in la Boqueria so were free to have someone else cook for us. We had been told the lower Born area around Santa Maria del Mar was good for tapas bars. However we never made it. We found this place that looked like it was an old garage and was being used as the smoking extension for a local place and stopped. Some tourists but also some arty looking locals. A beer for me and a cava for Marjan had us forgetting about the evils of pickpockets. We had a few things, but Marjan loved the eggplant and I was in raptures over the morcilla (black pudding sounds so mundane for something that is heaven in a sausage). In the meantime we watched a young woman at the next table (well I watched and Marjan hissed at me) go through about six roll your owns whilst listening to music and reading a book.
Suitably sated we headed off to a flamenco show at the Palau de Musica Catalana. Of course the fifteen minute walk meant we needed some sustenance, so a nice chocolate in the Palau cafeteria was in order. Proper Spanish chocolate mind. Awesome show with very talented performers. We were probably a little too tired to get the most out of it, but we did enjoy it.
I have very little memory of making our way home, and I believe I actually fell asleep whilst walking up the stairs to the apartment.
The moral of the story...when Marjan says she is tired she is tired and the gods'll get ya if you don't listen.
So we are now catching up. Today (Saturday) we both woke after a pretty solid sleep. The first time since we arrived. Feeling fine when our second breakfast place and La Boqueria were open as usual. Decided to buy some makings for dinner. We then went on an aimless wander through older parts of town in the general direction of Santa Maria Del Mar. We managed to get some American tourist lost by pointing them in the wrong direction. Good one Rafael. Found Sta M. Eventually in a really beautiful part of town. Born is terrific. The streets are incredibly narrow, the shops are lovely, even if the do sell tea (thanks for the tip Keyne), and the general atmosphere is relaxed. Apart from more wandering around little narrow streets we managed to buy a new phone to replace the old one. Wanted it as I still need to book places as we go and street phones are becoming rarer. On our way to lunch we saw a Bimbo van, neither Marjan nor I knew they delivered.
Lunch was at La Boqueria, we tried to get into Pinotxo, which is world famous, but it was a little crowded. Four deep around the bar. We managed to get a table at another place and more tapas were ordered. The boquerones (fresh anchovies) in vinaigrette were lovely with a cool beer. We actually had a bit of a siesta after lunch. Very spanish.
Same old after lunch. We wandered through some areas of Raval on our way to the waterfront. I had actually thought of coming down here to get a phone. I had read there are some cheap Pakistani phone shops. If by some they meant dozens then yes. A very interesting street, every second shop is offering to fix and unlock phones. From what I understand my stolen phone was probably sold here hours after I lost it. It was a very interesting part of town with lots of immigrants. Quite a few Senagelese as well as the Pakistanis, who by the way have founded a Pakistani workers of Catalunya union.
Really nothing much else to report. We stopped at Taller de Tapas to have a beer and some grilled calamares as an appetizer with another beer. Yummy...I remember the song about the nips getting bigger. On our holidays I suspect it will be us getting bigger
Now to rest before the stress of our first drive tomorrow.
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