Day 5 :Montserrat

The following day was a lengthy travel day as we made the seven hour drive from Madrid to our bungalow outside of Barcelona.  Before hitting the road, we connected with my mission bestie, Hermana Wendy Rivera Billings, who now lives in Alcalá, birthplace of Miguel de Cervantes. Not only are Wendy and I the same height, but we both have daughters on missions and we both named daughters Brooklyn. It was such a treat to connect, especially on market day where we got to enjoy all the colorful delicacies and products her town has to offer.

Talia, Brooklyn, and Brooklyn.

From there, we drove for a long while, then stopped in Zaragoza for a late lunch. While I enjoyed our brief visit, everyone was pretty hot and hangry, plus I think Jason wanted kebab instead of the bar food we picked up. If we went back under different circumstances, I'm pretty sure we'd all like it even more.

Zaragoza has its own version of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

This is how amused everyone felt when I tried to get the group to smile for a photo. I think I would have been more successful if I'd waited until after we'd eaten.  :)

At least the tiles and the birds looked happy.

Our next stop was far more successful. At Brooklyn's suggestion, we visited Montserrat, getting there in the late afternoon just as the crowds were dispersing. This turned out to be perfect--plenty of parking, cooler temps, and a reflective feeling of solitude.

Here's a place to peer into the window of your soul.

Just glad we could share it as an entire family.

The surroundings were stunning. My humanities classes would label it romantic in the most mystical sense of the word.

Our only regret was that the funicular wasn't running.

Far better than a funicular was our discovery that we'd arrived just in time for Evensong where the boys choir was singing. This serendipitous spiritual encounter is one of my highlights for the entire trip. I've always felt that places of worship are best experienced as precisely that--a place to worship. And the music? Nothing short of heavenly.

Gosh, I love this man.

Thank you ever so much for bringing us here, Brooklyn!

Speaking of things that touch my heart, one of the things that I loved most about Spain was that there were well-labeled AEDs in public spaces everywhere, even Montserrat. Not only could you find them in every metro station, there was clear signage showing you where they were located. In an emergency, this makes all the difference!

While we didn't need an AED, we did need some more food by the time we finally arrived in Malgrat de Mar. Fortunately we found a cute little restaurant with a cast-iron skillet full of tasty mushrooms just for us.

Viva españa!