Spain
Part 6 1/2
Montserrat

On our way in our lovely rental station wagon, Terry at the wheel, me at the map...

...and a verrrrrry tired Jack, sportin' his chef hat, in the back seat.

A toll road?!? What the hell do you mean we were on a TOLL ROAD!! And how much is it?!? Do we even HAVE any euros? Frantically searching the pockets for euros. Jack, sorry dude, but you're gonna have to give up that jingle in your pocket to help the cause.

Jack at his usual spot on daddy's shoulders. We were trying to find the Sedillo's hotel amongst the throngs of non-English speaking tourists. So tired...need rest...

Jack and Diego IMMEDIATELY go into play mode as soon as they see each other.

A view of Montserrat while waiting for the tram. It is literally built into the mountainside. Years and years of rain and wind have created a beautiful backdrop

Couldn't beat the weather! It was nice to be out of the California rains. Sorry, kids...

The Borden's and the Sedillo's meet up in Montserrat. Who would've thought it would happen? Awesome.

A tram took you straight up the side of the mountain to almost the very top. It was up to us to hoof it up a path...and we did... The tram had glass-roof tops as to enjoy the ride even more.

Jack and Terry at the top of the ride. Can you see just how high up we are? Don't fall off cause it's a looooooong way down.

Some beautiful foliage growing out of the side of a boulder.

A cool, twisting path leads to the unknown.

Kate keeping not-even-two-year-old Eva away from the edge. As you can see, the path wasn't too wide. Can you see Barcelona waaaaaaaaay in the background? See our hotel?!?

View from the path.

Jack pausing his rock climbing long enough to make a grandpa face. Thanks again, dad!

Can you spot the rockclimbers?

Kate doing her best to keep the kids from rollin' downhill.

And finally a pic together that isn't a self portrait. Next to my left shoulder is another church on the hillside. We're standing just below another abandoned building.

And here's the OSHA approved stairway into the abandoned building. There was no signage as to what it used to be. Time to explore and see what we can find.

This place was trashed! And there literally was trash strewn about. What used to be maybe a restaurant or retreat was now home to weekend parties and squatters.

Looking out through the broken out windows.

Looking into what appears to be an old sitting area. The seats are carved into the rock. There are several rooms like this, some with what looked like beds. Ah, comfortable...

The outside of the building.

Strange little face fountain. Odd things everywhere.

What appears to be some original artwork. Who knows.

Nature takes over and replaces what others have destroyed.

This is the path that leads to the sitting caves. Monks sit within the rocks for up to a year at a time. Reflection and time. Necessary for all.

I took a seat in one of the sitting areas and stared at the faces in the rocks. Not a bad view.

Back at camp...this is above the door leading into the church.

Statues of saints adorn the courtyards.

Statue of St. Joseph.

Just to give you an idea of how massive the church and courtyard are. The people walking are still about 50 yards from entering.

Jack, Diego and Eva playing at the feet of one of the statues, burning energy before dinner.

Night falls on Montserrat.

Dinner with the Sedillo's. A couple of bites of bread and butter and the lil' dude was out. Couldn't even make it to his pasta. Surprised he made it that long.