I started to write this whole fleshed-out post for my Montserrat adventure today but then I was suddenly talking about the public transportation system in Barcelona for like five paragraphs and it just didn’t feel right, so I decided to start over. I’ll tell you more about public transportation and why I don’t trust buses later :) Basically I had such a great time at Montserrat today and am thrilled I get to go back with the program in April. I knew I wanted to do something adventurous and fun today, but had not thought about what that would be until 2:00am this morning (Chat helped me plan and figure out logistics as my brainpower was falling fast), so I am proud that I woke up on time, stuck with it, and made it happen, because I can imagine an alternate reality where I didn’t and that would be very sad.

Although I didn’t see the Basilica or the Stairway to Heaven- the two main reasons people visit the mountain-, I saw so, so much more. I hiked from the town at the base of the mountain all the way to the highest point on the mountain (which I think might also be the highest point in Barcelona, or at least it appeared so from up there). There were definitely a few other hikers who did the same thing, but honestly I think most people who visit barely hike. The typical structure of a day in Montserrat might look something like this: arrive at Monistrol de Montserrat, the town at the base of the mountain, and take the gondola or funicular up to the Basílica. Explore the Basílica, grab lunch at the cafeteria nearby, and soak in the views and maybe take a quick hike around before buying ANOTHER 11 Euro ticket to take the gondola or funicular back down. I’m not hating on this itinerary at all, but for me personally, I was much more interested in exploring the mountain itself and getting lost amongst its nature and trails. That was why I committed to using my own two feet as my only form of transportation for the entire time I was up there. If it was going to be an epic adventure, it had to be 100% powered by me.

My itinerary ended up looking like this: Walk and keep walking. In more detail… I got off the metro at Monistrol de Montserrat and spent 10 minutes photographing this amazing mountain from behind the fence of the train station as I slowly remembered that places other than gigantic chaotic cities also exist in the world. I don’t know how many times I repeated some combination of “This is so beautiful. OMG It’s so beautiful here. I love this. I have to go hiking more often” as I walked through town and to the start of the trail, but it was a lot. There were three other groups of hikers that started at almost the same time as me, but I overtook them all hehe. They gave you no gentle introduction to the path- it was an immediate straight shot up. I climbed SO. MANY. STAIRS. Its not even funny, but the scenery was absolutely breathtaking (in the literal way, not the cliche way). It only got better after I arrived to the Basílica- the hike from there to Sant Jordí, the highest point on the mountain, was by far the most beautiful. And to think that 99% of tourists miss that! I will say that this section somehow had even more stairs than the initial ascent, but that does make sense if you’re hiking to the top of the mountain. Honestly it was more of a stair master session than a hike. But SO WORTH IT when you pop out at the top and are faced with a contender for one of the three most pretty things you have ever seen in your entire life. I could have sat up there forever just looking out over the landscape, but the wind was going absolutely insane and making it freezing cold.

I did meet someone at the top after trading phones to take pictures of each other, and we ended up hiking most of the way back down together. He’s studying abroad in France and randomly decided to come on this hike just like I did after seeing the mountains out of the airplane window. We saw a mountain goat family- another thing that you only get the chance to see if you hike up to the top- and hiked up to a bunch of little outlooks along the way. It was perfect timing- I got the solo, self-directed adventure I’d been craving and then just as I was starting to feel like it might be nice to have someone to hike with, I had someone to hike with!

I spent almost two hours hiking down from the mountain as the sun was beginning to set because I couldn’t find the way back to the Monastery and then, once I finally did, the descent seemed to have increased in length since that morning. By the end I was running down the (very rocky and treacherous) path with basically no light left to see where I was stepping. I managed to avoid any evil rocks or camouflaged snakes (my two main worries), and if you were to ask me how many times I almost sprained my ankle falling over a rock, I would answer at least 52. After my serene day in the mountains I was instantly stressed about the metro again once I got back into town. I didn’t technically have anywhere to be by a certain time (I had told Cristina that there was no way I was going to make it on time for dinner), but the metros out here only come every 30 minutes, so missing the next one would’ve been a huge bummer. I made it with plenty of time and transferred to my middle metro and my last metro without a hitch (but still with lots of stress), and was home by 9:30 for dinner!

So yeah basically it was a great day and if you were ever thinking about hiking Montserrat, DO IT! The hike will be way more fun and enriching than simply seeing the Monastery, and those views will haunt you in a good way for days and months and years.

More pictures to come later. I am just really tired and must go to sleep because we have to get up early tomorrow :)