Spain
Part 6
Meeting Friends in Montserrat

Can I say first of all what an awesome experience it is to travel as a family? It is such a bonding and memorable journey of unplanned experiences. I can't recommend it enough. It will bring you closer as a family and as a team - you have to or you'll crash and burn. Work as a team, no complaining, constant communication, go with the flow, WORK AS A TEAM! You are one unit, spending time in unfamiliar lands hearing unfamiliar languages. You are the ones who are being looked at as foreign as you are the ones speaking a different language. It's humbling and it broadens your persepective, if you let it. If journeys such as this don't change your perspective on life, the world and it's people, you haven't even left your neighborhood. Nuff said, for now...

Sunday morning, April 2nd, and we had no idea what we were going to do with our day. Wait, I lied. We had to take the metro to the train station to purchase our rail tickets for our upcoming travel days - Monday to San Sebastian and Thursday back to Madrid for our Friday morning flight home. We had made our hotel reservations in San Sebastian on Saturday via hotels.com and our Lonely Planet book, two constant companions on this European venture. We headed out to Barcelona Train Hell at about 10:30AM. Unbeknownst to us (prior to this stepping foot in Spanish) there are many different "versions" or dialects of Spanish spoken in Spain - Catalon and Basque among them. Oh, and there's a lisp. Ask me about it in person. So imagine if you will, three whities standing in front of the ticket board at the train station, stunned, near tears trying to figure out where the HELL TO GET OUR NUMBER JUST TO GET IN LINE! Which line? Don't know!! I would've paid any English speaking person 50 euro just to deal with the situation. Mind you, just because my measly Spanish vocabulary had gotten us this far, Terry found it easy to throw me under the 'lingual bus' every time a situation such as this arose. Nice. And was this a different, TOTALLY fucked up situation. Okay, found the information line. Now, if the sign reads 'Information' in English, don't you expect the dude behind the counter to speak just a little English? Nah. Why should he? "Se habla ingles, senor?" "No", as in no smile, no help, next in line. Fucker (sorry, dad). Next line. Same answer, but she was kind enough to draw lines and circles on a train schedule and point to where I needed to go. So off the tres amigos went to the other side of the station. Meanwhile, Terry had FINALLY figured where to grab a number and Hey!, it was our turn now. "Se habla ingles?" "No". Shit. But what a sweet person she turned out to be. Between the myriad of drawings, lines and hand gestures, we got our tickets. No tears necessary. God, I need a drink...

Then the phone rang. It was Kate!!! Oh my god!!! She got our message about getting together. So, what were we doing today? We had already done it (Whew!) and had no further plans. Well, they were only 56 km away in Montserrat, a place that we had talked about visiting. And hey, there's a Hertz rental place right across the street. So, you KNOW we were all over that - spontaneity had taken the reigns once again. Golden. Off we went across the street. "Kate, can you call us back in an hour and we'll give you our final decision?" We knew what it was but didn't want to tell her yet in case a problem arose in the next 1/2 hour or so. With the clothes on our back and only a bag of chips and Diet Coke in our bellies, we were off and rolling in our Ford Focus stationwagon (NOT minivan). How the hell were we going to find our way out of Barcelona? Ever driven in Boston? It's worse, trust me...and in Spanish...and there are no street signs, only signs on the corner of the building, 12 feet up the side. Now squint. Nice. So, did we make it? Hell ya!! With Terry at the wheel and me with the map (and a very tired Jack in the back seat wearing his chef hat given to him by the waiter the night before) we were off to Montserrat. You gotta google this place. No explanation I give you will even cover 1/8 of its entirety. Brief explanation - It is a monestary and church with 2 hotels and a restaurant. It is a very unique and beautiful place to contemplate and view Spain as it's thousands of feet up, built in the side of a mountain. Okay, you can sit and contemplate on a day that it's not filled with tourists.

After many phone calls with Kate checking our direction and where to meet, we found them. Here came the happy family of five, Eva strapped to the front of Kate with Miguel and Diego in tow, Daniel with a huge grin. After big hugs and warm greetings, Jack and Diego immediately broke our wrestling and chasing each other around the sidewalk. Awesome. Jack needed a day to play with one of his school buds. So first on the agenda? Take the tram to the top of the mountain and hike the trail to an old, abandoned building. Did it used to be a hostel? Maybe a retreat? Let's go find out. The trail leading to the building was only about 8-10 feet wide, so you can imagine the chore it was to keep the kids from tumbling thousands of feet down. How about a ride on my shoulders? Ouch! We're going uphill and we've been carrying very heavy packs and now 40 pounds sacks of human. Motrin por favor!! We made it to the top and spotted some rock climbers getting ready to ascend up a granite (limestone?) boulder. Daniel and Kate had brought snacks and were very generous in sharing with all. I must say, Terry and I are not used to new friends, or even a country, that is so hospitable. It's a wonderful experience that we continue to flash on a couple of times a day. Daniel and Kate have traveled SOOOOO much more than us, and they have such a fresh, open view of the world and its people. It's refreshing to hear such optimism and a genuinely positive perspective about all who inhabit this rock we call earth.

We wandered the old 2-story building, dilapidated floors, corners filled with old kitchen appliances, what appeared to be beds carved out in the rocks. A trail wrapped around the side of the mountain with openings every so often to stop, sit and peer at the view, think, whatever. It is rumored that monks come here, find their perch and sit for a year at a time. Wow.

After the hike, we headed to the playground to let the kids blow off some steam before heading to dinner. Jack and I wandered over to find where the bells were ringing as one of the monks was somewhere within the church pulling the rope every 15 minutes. We did find the church and stood behind the glass as we watched the congregation sing in melodious harmony, surrounded by glass windows that shone supreme and ceilings that touched the heaven of which they all sang. Religious or not, it was a majestic and moving sight.

Back to Kate and Daniel's room to clean up the kids, brush some hair, and off to the restaurant. Some of the patrons held an, "Oh no. They're not REALLY coming in with 4 kids" look about them. Sucks to be you, eh? We ordered and Jack proceeded to fall asleep in my arms after his bread and water. He only slept 7 hours or so the night before. Nighty night, buddy.

After a dinner that flowed with wine and conversation, it was time to head back. Hugs and kisses abound and Daniel was nice enough to wait with me while Terry ran down the hill to fetch the car. Daniel then surprised Terry with a hug and the Spanish "kiss on either cheek" - when in Spain! It's so awesome to watch the transformation of Terry. The guy I knew many years ago would not of even agreed to go abroad. Now, he was embracing the Spanish culture and reveling in all it had to offer. Whatta guy. I am proud of both my men. They rock.

Jack awoke for the ride home. Not a prob. It was 11:30PM by the time we got back to the hotel and we were hungry for dessert. What to do? Hell, head out onto Los Ramblas for a hooker and some satchel. Well, one outta two. We sat at the food bar, ate our cake, talked with some people form Norway and Scotland and ventured back to our room. It was finally time to call it.

Spontaneity is often the only way one can find true adventure. That's how we saw one of the most priceless treasures in all of Spain and how we ended up training it to San Sebastian. Of course there is planning to be done in life. But must we revel in filling up the calendar? I know, I know, I too am guilty of marking my days in a constant flow of black ink. So how can we change this? How can we make it so our days don't dictate our years? I can't answer that. I just know that I don't want to be dragged through this life, led by what others tell me I should be doing based on yet anothers take on life. Ick. I'm here with my family creating an adventure and an experience all based on what we feel like doing in the moment. How could I want for more? How? By trying my damndest to incorporate that into my daily life. Anyone else up for the challenge?