If you want a break from the crowds, several day trips from Barcelona are tempting scene-changers: the mountaintop monastery of Montserrat, the Salvador Dali museum at Figueres, and the beach town of Sitges.
For almost a thousand years, Benedictine monks have lived atop Montserrat — the “serrated mountain” — which dramatically rockets up from the valley floor northwest of Barcelona. Poets claim that the mountain was carved by little angels with golden saws. Geologists blame nature at work. Either way, with its unique rock formations and dramatic cliff-clinging monastery, this is an inviting excursion for pilgrims with (or without) hiking boots. A one-hour train ride from Barcelona links up with a rack railway or a cable car to get you to the lofty site. Serious pilgrims walk up.
Legend has it that in medieval times, shepherd children saw lights and heard songs coming from the mountain. They traced the activity to a cave, where they found a statue dubbed La Moreneta, the Black Madonna. The monastery quickly became a pilgrim magnet. The small wooden Mary is behind protective glass in the Montserrat basilica, but the royal orb she cradles in her hand is exposed, ready to receive the venerating touch of the faithful. Newlyweds in particular seek this Mary’s blessing.
