Montserrat, Spain 11-19-10

While in Barcelona, we decided to visit Montserrat, which is the mountain in this photograph.  It houses a 1,000 year old benedictine monastery.

Here we are, waiting to get on the train to take us up the mountain.

I was taking pictures out of the train window.....

like this one.

This is the monastery, with the surrounding town.

We decided to hike up to the top of the mountain.  There were three trails, we took the highest.

The mountain is famous for its rock formations, which all have names and some look like animals or people.

You can see the odd formations and how you can imagine what they look like.

Taking a momentary break, about half way up.

I found this abandoned church on the way up.

 A view from close to the top.

 I finally made it to the top and the view was breath-taking.

This is the Pyrenees mountains, which separate Spain from France. 

At the top, there was a group of Spanish students hiking the mountain.

Lynda Lou was lagging a little behind, but finally made it to the top.

 At the top with the mountains in the background.

 As you can imagine, at the top of a mountain, the wind was blowing really hard.

On the way back down, testing my new remote control for the camera.

Back to the center of town and a quick look into the church.

The inside of the church at the abbey.