Day 4, Montserrat - To Heaven and back

The first sight of the Montserrat leaves me spellbound. As the train snakes through the route, I twist my neck in all directions to avoid losing sight of the mountain.

Hevre's friend Ana joins us for breakfast today. She is an Argentinianwho came to visit Barcelona six years ago, fell in love with its vibeand has been living here ever since. The cultural mix at the tableprovides for some interesting conversation before we all head offtowards our respective days. A visit to Montserrat is on the cards forme today.

The Monastery of Montserrat has been built into the cliffs of theMontserrat mountains about 40 kilometres from Barcelona. The vista forthe most part of the journey is uninteresting as one colourless townrolls into the next. As the train draws closer to the mountains, thereis a subtle shift in the scenery almost as if nature is conspiring tobuild towards the grand marvel you are about to witness.

The first sight of the Montserrat leaves me spellbound. As the trainsnakes through the route, I twist my neck in all directions to avoidlosing sight of the mountain. The mountains are carpeted in lush greento a certain height and beyond that naked pink rock juts out pushingtowards the sky. This is what the mountain gets its name from, theliteral translation of Montserrat is jagged mountain. As writers we aretaught to fight clichés but in times like these, only clichés can dothe deserved justice...I am left spellbound. I get off the trainoutside the village of Manresa from where a funicular train takes me upto the monastery. The ascend is steep and quick, the village diminishesrapidly and within minutes we have travelled a vertical distance of afew thousand metres to the base of the monastery.

Montserrat easily demands a full day's attention and if time and pocketpermit there are a couple of hotels around the monastery. Whether youare religious, an atheist or an antagonist, it is almost impossible tobe unaffected by the ambience of the Benedectine Abbey. Sculptures,paintings and statues line the corridor to the innermost sanctuarywhich holds the image of the Virgin Mary.

After a walk around the basilica I take the Funicular of Saint Joan,which at 65° is the steepest funicular in Spain. This takes me furtherup into the mountains. From here, walking trail leads to hovels carvedonto the face of the cliffs, this is where monks came for peace, quietand meditation. Another funicular that descends from the monastery goesto the shrine of Saint Joan. The walk from the station to the shrine islined with pieces of art made by different Spanish artists ranging fromGaudi to Miro.

This is an experience I would happily will to never end, but too soonit is time to abandon the heavens and return to the earth below.

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