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None of my photos do Montserrat justice. When I visited today the cloud cover was resting at about 700m above sea level. Unfortunate as Montserrat is also located at 700m above sea level. When I exited from the train it was like walking into a very errie movie. Nothing was in focus. You could barely see five feet in front of you. People would disappear into the pea soup of the fog and reappear as if by magic. It meant that seeing the spectacular scenery this area is famous for was a bit of a mission. Throughout the time I was there there were a few breaks in the clouds and it would clear sufficiently for glimpses of the surrounding mountains, jagged spires with rounded ends, to soar above the town. Then the fog would move in, again obscuring your view and making your world that little bit smaller. It was an amazing time to see the town.
One of the main drawcards, apart from the obvious natural beauty, is the basillica, which houses a statue of the Virgin and baby Jesus. This statue was 'found' in a nearby cave sometime ago. The best part about the statue is that the virgin and jesus are both black. This has been due to the varnish used which has darkened overtime. Must have caused a bit of contraversy at the time. There are numerous paintings dipicting the statue, some of which paint the skin as white! These are found in a nearby art museum.
And its a good art museum too. There are a couple of Monets, a few Picassos (from his early days before his abstrat wonders (bear in mind here my knowledge of modern art is still useless)-his alterboy painting is a bit creepy though) and sketches from Dali. Apart from the big names, there are actually some beautiful other paintings there. And a mummified crocodile. I love how nearly every museum in Europe has an Egypt collection with items fleeced from Egypt at one time or another. Even a tiny town in Spain located high amongst the clouds has one. And theres a mummy (complete with the head exposed-blackened and teeth bared).
No trip up a mountain is complete without attempting to climb up the rest of it. Found a path (of mostly stairs leading directly up) abd started climbing. Until I got tired and heard thunder. Figured that was my cue to get my head out of the clouds. To compensate for not reaching the end of where that path went I opted for the giant sugar rush that only a huge meringue filled with hazelnuts will give.
I should also mention I spent part of the morning at Colonial Guell-an old industrial town of only 800 inhabitants, but home to an extraordinary church designed by none other but Gaudi. Bloody amazing structure!
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