Montserrat Tour

So here we go with our first absolute bust of a tour.  This is one that we booked with our travel agent prior to leaving. NEVER let us do this again.  It was costly, which made it even more painful.  We missed the human pyramid for this tour!

We met up at the tour company to meet our tour guide and load up on the huge bus.  There were about a dozen of us on a gigantic bus for 40.  Our tour guide, Antonio, had lost his job as a teacher due to the Crisis and was very happy to have this tour job.  At least we were not forced to hear stories about the awful tourists and Global Warming.

We rode for about an hour to the Montserrat mountains.  Very beautiful........

We were able to see the countryside and enjoy some of the non-city sights. The main attraction is the Santa Maria de Montserrat, a Benedictine abbey nestled in the Montserrat mountains. It's also home to the Black Madonna. We added to our icon collection with yet another Black Madonna.  Seriously, does every county have a Black Madonna?

We felt as though this was a religious place that has been turned in to Disneyland.  There was a traffic jam on the way up the mountain.  Plenty of people drive up, park the car, and hike for the day.  Many others are on a pilgrimage, or just seeing the sights like we were doing.  They have one of the oldest boy choirs (which did not perform during our visit, even though we sat in on the Mass for the sole purpose of hearing them perform...and got majorly "Ssshed" for talking while waiting for the Mass to begin).

When we got off the bus, Antonio walked us past a row of vendors where we sampled local cheese (which were absolutely the best cheese we have ever tasted) and then we entered the gift shop where we did shots (actually a tasting of the local sherry or liqueurs, which is a very big deal around here). We purchased our Black Madonna statute and went to the cafe for water.

We then walked around the place to see what we could find......we're hoping we don't need medical assistance because this is what we'd get......

Here are some of the sights outside of the Abbey......

And here's some views of inside the abbey........

There's a very long line waiting to view the Black Madonna.  You're able to get up right next to the Madonna, take a photo, and they allow all this while Mass is taking place.  The Madonna is up front, at the top of the altar.  So while you're sitting in the pew, hearing Mass, people are in line and then climbing the stairs and standing next to the Madonna and taking flash photos. This is why it felt like Disneyland to us.  There is just no feeling of holiness. They allow all sorts of dress too, not like Italy...at all.

Another very big deal about this place is the spot that people say is powerful.  Pilgrims stand on the spot and pray.  Here we are....we might be mocking them....just a little.....

Then we all climbed back on the bus and napped on the way back to our hotel.