You know how sometimes the best of plans can go to pot? Today was one of those days. We had it all worked out. We were going to go to the famous Boqueria Market for a leisurely brunch, before going for our half day trip to Montserrat which we had booked with Klook. Simple enough, what could go wrong?
First, we woke up to rain. This may not sound extraordinary, but as our Montserrat tour guide told us, it almost never rains in Barcelona, especially at this time of the year. The temperature plunged from a balmy 22 degrees celcius yesterday to a chilly 15 degrees today. When we packed for Spain, the weather forecast was hot, hot, hot, so we hadn't bothered with any warm clothing. I didn't even have a jacket of any kind, only a shawl!
We tried to get a cab via Cabify to go to Boqueria but was unable to. Seems like all of Barcelona was taking cabs, since they were all caught unprepared by the weather. As I stood shivering by the pavement waiting to see if I could get a cab, I realised that going up to Montserrat in the MOUNTAINS dressed only in my tee and jeans was a terrible idea.
Abandoning our Boqueria plans, we decided to do a spot of impromptu shopping instead. Before we left Madrid, Lesley-Anne had told us about Lefties which is by Zara but at Cotton On prices. I googled and found a Lefties outlet near us and we headed out.
Funny how back home, people talk about shopping at Zara, Mango, Desigual etc in Spain, but nobody talks about Lefties. It's absolutely brilliant! I got this beautiful faux leather jacket for only €18 (I saw a similar one at H&M selling for €49.99).
Feeling much less nervous about Montserrat now, we decided to have a spot of brunch. We passed by a restaurant called La Tramoia that looked very cosy and inviting, so took a chance on it.
It serves very good value breakfast sets and happily, the food turned out better than we expected, especially on a cold, drippy morning. The sandwiches don't look like much in the picture, but one of them was Iberico ham with a thick slice of brie that ran throughout the length of the baguette. The soft melty cheese complemented the salty ham perfectly, and the baguette was crisp and light. The English breakfast was tastier and less greasy than any I ever had in England, which is pretty ironic.
Then it was off to Montserrat! Montserrat is a monastery in the mountains, about an hour's drive away from Barcelona. As you approach the mountains, you can see the monastery along the range, which is breath-taking....so we heard. Unfortunately, since it was raining, the whole area was covered with fog. You can go all the way up by coach but our trip included a ride on the funicular.
Montserrat was established in 1025 by the San Benedict monks. That's right, more than 1,000 years ago!
The main attraction of Montserrat is the basilica. The external facade is beautiful but certainly didn't look 1,000 years old, until our tour guide explained that the dastardly Napolean had burned down the basilica in the 1800s, and it had to be rebuilt.
The facade was rebuilt using the stones from the Montserrat mountains.
Can I tell you how glad I was to have the jacket? It was still cold with it, but would have been unbearable otherwise. It was about 14 degrees up there AND raining AND windy. Brr.
The interior of the basilica is stunning. Stained glass, carved ceilings and intricate paintings. According to our guide, 17 monks stay here, looking after the basilica and the monastery grounds.
Outside, we were playing hide and seek with the fog. It rolled in and out, so at times, we would see the mountains for about 2 minutes and then without warning, the entire basilica would disappear.
It would have been funny if it wasn't so frustrating. I sent Lesley-Anne this pic via WhatsApp:
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| "See the gorgeous mountains" |
And she replied with this:
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| "Nothing a lil editing can't fix. There it is." |
LOL. I have such corny kids.
Then it was back to Barcelona, and it was STILL raining. Bah. We had made reservations for dinner at a restaurant called Crudo Bar, but Kenneth wasn't feeling well, so he stayed back at the hotel and it was a dinner date for just me and Andre.
Crudo Bar is known for their octopus, so of course, we had to order that. We also ordered a portion of tomato toast and a prawn dish.
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| Tomato toast |
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| Shrimps in basil batter |
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| The star of the show - grilled octopus with purple potato parmentier |
The octopus was out of this world. Seriously, how do you cook octopus so that it's so tender and juicy? I have been an octopus convert ever since coming to Spain. Unexpectedly, the standout of the prawn dish was not the prawns but the salad! It was so delicious Andre and I gobbled it down in no time at all.
And finally, a glass of Sangria. Just cos we're in Spain.
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