Barcelona & Monserrat

On Monday night we went to our Dinner and Flamenco Show. It was a set meal with either fish or paella. We decided to have one of each. The fish was an entire fish set on the plate with the tail in the fish’s mouth held in place by its big teeth. It looked like a cat fish. It was served with sardines and mussels. The paella smelled and tasted really bad to what we are used to. However it was served with a big salad that was very nice. The show was excellent with dancing, singing and flamenco guitar and included Ian dancing on stage.

Yesterday we started out with another wet day but it became fine as we arrived at Monserrat. It has spectacular rock forms and houses an almost one thousand year old Benedictine monastery. We watched the boy’s choir in the basilica and tasted the wines the monks make there. We took the rack rail up the mountain. and took walks around the rocks. From there we could see the snow that fell the night before on the Pyrenees.

From there we took the bus to Sitges. It is a coastal town where the people from Barcelona used to go for their seaside holidays (much as we would go to Bribie) and where the rich who made their fortune in the West Indies built large homes. It is a pretty place but the tour was badly organized. We had a guide that showed us the old architecture and then left us to find our way back to the bus. We had two hours free time but the shops were closed for siesta and we were more concerned about finding how to get back to the bus so we didn’t miss it. We had a hot chocolate (it was 11⁰C) and asked directions back to the bus where we sat for an hour (along with most other passengers) and waited for the bus to pick us up.


Today we get on the ship for our Cruise and tomorrow we will be in Monte Carlo.