One thing I have now realized is that I need to blog first before sending out links to my albums. The blog posts (hopefully) give some context to the photos and prevent the same questions from being asked by different people over and over again. >_<
Anyway, I decided to break up my Montserrat photos from the Barcelona set. The Barcelona set was becoming quite daunting and there was some pressure to share some photos ASAP. So, without further ado…
Montserrat.
It all started when I was looking into a day trip away from Barcelona for the spare day I had before BlueOrca joined me in Europe. AR and MM both highly recommended Montserrat. I cannot go wrong.
Montserrat is a 4000ft mountain an hour from Barcelona. A Benedict abbey, the Santa Maria de Montserrat is nestled near its peaks. Montserrat means “jagged”, in reference to the sudden outcrop of rocks that is Montserrat on the plains of Catalonia. The views are said to be spectacular.
Reaching Montserrat is relatively straightforward. Go to Espanya to get on the R5 train to Madresa. From there, you have two options, take the cable car or rack rail. At Espanya, I was expecting to find a real train station. What I found were nondescript subway platforms that turned out to be the train station.
From the train platform of Aeri de Montserrat, where you take the cable car, you can make out the monastery near the top of the mountains. I was super excited. :D
The cable car ride was only 7 minutes in duration, but definitely quite breathtaking. By far, the oldest cable car I have ever been on too.
As you can see from the photo, the weather was not very nice on this day. This will become a recurring theme.
At the top station, it is a short hike up to the abbey. Now, a must-see at Montserrat is the famous boys choir. I have no real interest in boys choir singing holy gospels, but they are the world’s oldest running boys choir, since the 13th century or something like that. I had read they sing just before noon.
Went to the info centre to figure out where to see this choir. “There is no choir today. It is Saturday.” WHAAT? :’( None of the brochures mentioned anything about this. It is suppose to be daily! Oh well, some things were not meant to be.
Photo stops outside and inside the basilica. A mass was in session, so I squeezed into the back and snapped a couple photos. The interior design was one of the more visually appealing cathedrals I visited on E08. Just something different about going into an empty church versus one jammed packed with people praying in unison.
While I was up in the abbey taking photos, giant clouds started to roll into the area. I’ve been in clouds before, but not such fast moving ones. It was almost surreal.
Took the funicular up to the peak. I was wondering the entire time what a funicular was, and the lady I asked could not adequately explain it in her broken English. When I actually saw the train… OH!! The Peak Tram! I know this. :P
Got to the top, and it started to POUR! I was totally planning on hiking the last 50m of elevation to the true Montserrat peak. Man, I could see jack, and I was not going to take TochiCam out in the rain anyway, so the hike was not worth it. Took the next funicular back down, along with everyone else. bummer.
Had lunch at a pretty fancy cafeteria (you can tell Montserrat is quite rich from all the pilgrims and tourists)... ended up having Paella (famous Seafood rice dish) without realizing it. I was soaked and just wanted something warm and filling. Got a fruit salad with it too.
Still quite foggy outside, so I took the opportunity for some more artsy shots.
The rain was letting up, so several hikes were possible for the afternoon. I decided to tackle a 40min one to Santa Cova afterwards. Santa Cova was where they discovered the black Virgin Mary that started this monastery at Montserrat. Would be kind of cool to see. A lot of sculptures along the way. Because of the rain, many of the faces on the sculptures had streams of "tears" flowing down.
The bottom of the valley was clearing up too, so I finally got to view some of the stunning scenery.
Finally reached the Chapel de Santa Cova. The chapel was built in the 1700's on the order of the Pope to protect the black Virgin Mary. Monks were camped permanently there for many years. For me, I found it amusing that a gigantic boulder sticks out in front of the chapel. :)
Not a lot of people do this hike, but I was expecting someone to greet me inside. No one was there. Now that was creepy. I don't visit empty churches alone. Kind of like I don't really visit cemeteries alone. Just not my thing.
Took quick photos of the Virgin Mary (actually, I'm not even sure which part of stone was the Virgin Mary), and quick tour of the chapel before jetting out of there.
Once I got back to the abbey area, I stuck around for some more photos before taking the cable car back down to return to Barcelona.
Final Impressions
Montserrat is a very cool place to visit, and if you have an extra day in Barcelona, I'd highly recommend making the day trip. While my visit was marred by the weather, I got to appreciate the beautiful, serenity and spirit of Montserrat. There is an all inclusive pass that includes transportation to/fro Barcelona, funicular rides and food. Quite a good deal.
The jagged peaks and rock outcrops had me itching to visit 黃山 for some reason! :P
Next stop - Truly Barcelona. :D
Amsterdam was my first stop on E08 - a 5 hour layover in the city. I had initially planned for a short escape to the area around the airport. However, when I got there, I realized there was a 15 minutes train to downtown.
Lesson #1: Bring your PIN for your VISA, M/C, A/E to Europe. It’s the one you received but never used.
I tried to buy a ticket from a kiosk. Inserted my A/E and it asked for my PIN. WTF. Same thing with M/C. How the heck am I gonna get my PIN? Ended up getting my ticket with cash at a ticket counter with a 0.50 cents extra service charge. PIN’s are commonly asked in Europe by automated systems to prevent fraud apparently.
Having never been to Amsterdam, I just know what the city is notoriously famous for – sex and weed. However, as I stepped out of Amsterdam Centraal, first thing I noticed were the bicycles. Lots and lots of them. Quick mental check. I was in Amsterdam, right? Not Copenhagen?
Not to disappoint however, a block from the train station, my sights veered left, and I spotted the first signs of one of its famous trades. I was actually surprised to stumble onto this so quickly. Took a quick stroll through the red light district of Amsterdam. I suspect given its close proximity to downtown that it is more or less a big tourism draw nowadays.
This trade seems to permeate everywhere you go in the city. Saw many related shops, boutiques, theatres, sculptures and artifacts around town. I remember Catnipped’s reaction to certain posters at PAX. I wonder how she will react in Amsterdam. lol.
Amsterdam is known as the Venice of the North. As you step outside the downtown core, you will inevitably run into the many canals that run around the city centre. Unlike Venice, one-way streets mixed with both pedestrian and vehicular traffic clog up the sides of the canals. Many instances, I saw delivery trucks with a train of cars behind them. They’ll just stop, turn on their 4-way flashers to make a delivery. lol. Sucks to be the follower.
I guess I should comment about the other famous trade in Amsterdam. I did go and peer in several cafes to see if people were smoking joints. I was not quite sure what to expect. Perhaps I might see people smoking from bowls like in the Middle East. Anyway, of the couple I visited, I did not see any such activity. A bit disappointed. I was told later that smoking in cafe is a touristy thing now. People just do it at home. lol.
Overall, I had a very amused introduction to Amsterdam. It was everything I expected from the city and so much more. Definitely a place I want to visit again for a few days to truly experience. And last but not least, this adorable little cow…
Next stop – Barcelona.
Returned from a two week sojourn in Mediterranean Europe. Wow, I don't even know where to begin. A lot of fun, a lot of adventures, a lot of jaw dropping sights. A true journey of discovery in many ways.
A rough count shows GBO and I combined for over 10k photos totalling over 100GB. It'll take a while to go through and process. In the meantime, a little teaser.....
View of the Grand Canal in Venezia from the famous Rialto Bridge:
All preparations are set. Wow, planning this trip was not easy. Lost a lot of sleep over this in the past 2 weeks.
First, I should have done a lot more research beforehand. Could not have picked a better or worst two weeks to go, depending on how you look at it.
Second, shouldn't leave things to the last minute. Not that it would have really helped on this trip, but no need for that sense of mad scrambling.
Very ambitious schedule. Crossing my fingers that things will go as planned. Cannot wait.
It took me from Mar 3, 2007 until today to get this done. Finally finished Zelda: Twilight Princess for the Wii. I played it on and off for a few months after I got the Wii, but during the summer, it just fell off my radar. I picked up the game again this January, with a resolution to finish the half a dozen games I collected over the years.
At first, I thought I was close to completing the game after collecting the fused shadows, only to find that I needed to collect 4 more pieces of mirror shards. Grr.
I managed to make it to last 49th stage of the Cave of Ordeals without realizing that I could use the magic armour (you're invincible until you run out of rupees). I had 3.5 hearts left and no fairies in my bottles. Amour saved me and I dispatched those knights soon enough.
Some parts of the game, I had to look up online for what to do. Like the 3rd phase of the last boss fight. Had no idea and just kept on losing hearts. So frustrating. I did like the Warp feature, cause I remember in Ocarina of Time, running around in Hyrule was such a pain!
At the end of the game, the screen flashed "Press (A) - Finish", where Link would apply the final blow on his nemesis. The conscious thought of pressing the button is bittersweet: "Finish" in more ways than one.
Overall, a very good classic Zelda game. One thing regarding the Wii version... long fights, like the final boss battles or Cave of Ordeals were tiring on the wrist. Glad to have played and finished it. Now, if I can get this Zelda theme song out of my head.