Excerpts from Barcelona - 12
A weekly glimpse into my Catalan adventures
This week consisted of a lot of time spent outdoors which, to me, is an ideal week! It started off with an amazing 10km trail run, followed by a very failed attempt at a 20km trail run. The trail I wanted to try ended up being closed off… and the second one was very sketchy… Regardless, the views were nice, the sun was out, and I still got to explore some new places.
My weekend also consisted of a beach picnic with my host family, which was super nice. The beach was so crowded compared to the last time we had a picnic there, and despite it being way too cold for me, there was quite a good amount of people in the water.
This week, I also got to visit Montserrat! You can read more about that below in my highlights of the week. (Spoiler: it was amazing!)
The rest of my week was pretty relaxed, I visited Departure Coffee Co. and also a shop that’s been on my list for a while: Libreria Altaïr. Part travel agency, part bookstore, the shop has everything, and I mean everything, you could ever need regarding hiking, traveling, and geography. Roadmaps, guides, nonfiction, you name it. Books are available in a range of languages and organized so nicely making it super easy to find whatever you’re looking for. If I had unlimited luggage space, I would’ve walked out very happy.
Highlights of the week
Montserrat, Montserrat, Montserrat!!!!
I had been dreaming of Montserrat since before I left for Barcelona and I’m so happy I finally made it! We started our hike in Monistrol de Montserrat, after a train ride from Barcelona Pl. Espanya. The train ticket cost about 12 euros round-trip and took about one and a half hours each way.
We then hiked up to the Monastery, which was incredible! Everywhere you looked there were panoramic views. The pictures I had seen of Montserrat were incredible but in person, the rock formation is absolutely mind-blowing. Yet another site in Spain that pictures don’t do justice.
We hiked up to Sant Jeroni summit, a peak at just over 1,200m in altitude, and then back to the monastery, after which we took the funicular down to the train station. It cost a very upsetting 8 euros for a trip that took approximately 5 minutes, but by that point it was well past 4 p.m. and to hike all the way down to the train would prolong our arrival by about 2 hours, at least.
It was an amazing day and I hope I can make it back to Montserrat to try another hiking route and visit the monastery!
A glimpse at next week…
I’ll be visiting Girona this weekend for a trail race, which I’m so excited about! It will be my first trail race, my longest race, and first time in Girona! After the race, I plan on relaxing on a terrace, reading a book, and exploring the town at a leisurely pace. I can’t think of a better way to explore a new place.
I don’t know if it’s the sunny weather, time spent outdoors, or a combination of both, but this week passed by so quickly! It has been one of my top weeks, so far. Not to mention, I finished setting up and booking for my post-au pair adventures and I couldn’t be more excited for what’s to come!