A Return to Barcelona

Montserrat - Barcelona, Spain
Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved

BARCELONA WAS our next stop, and it was the third time we had been there. It had been a long stretch of stops without a break, and I think each of the 3 couples traveling together had different thoughts on what they wanted to do in Barcelona. One couple ended up getting off the ship, walking around in the Gothic Quarter of the city for a short time, and finding a nice, beachside restaurant for a bottle of wine and some seafood. The other couple went on a private, day-long tour.

View (monochromatic) From Montserrat - Barcelona, Spain
Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved

MY WIFE and I had had a trip up to the Montserrat Abbey cut short on our last visit (due to some Catalan demonstrations). We wanted to return and complete the things we missed. We went on our own to Montserrat, where we saw the Abbey, the Basilica, and spent some time in the quite impressive art museum. We then went to a Montserrat vineyard, where we had a tour, and a tasting.

Basilica at Montserrat - Barcelona, Spain
Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved

WE FELT like we had completed that circuit. It was very foggy up there when we arrived, and I got some nice photos of the fog, and of the facility as the sun broke through. "Serrated Mountain" is the rough English translation for Montserrat. You get a pretty good idea of why it is so-named as you approach the Abbey. But when we traveled to the other side of the mountain and sat on the patio of the local vineyard sampling some wine - following our "formal" tasting, the backlit shot (even though the range is washed out), gives the best impression of the serrated mountains.

Montserrat, silhouetted by backlighting - Barcelona, Spain
Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved

WE ARRIVED back at the ship after a nice day and made our - now-customary - way back to the Sunset Bar/Deck to a now-familiar view, to watch the sunset and the sail-away, headed next for two islands that are part of Italy.

Port of Barcelona, Spain
Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved