Finally, I'm caught up on my blogging! What a great start to this week.
Today we left Barcelona by bus and drove to Lleida, (yay-ee-da) which is at the far western end of the Catalonian region. It's a very old town as well--possibly as early as 300BCE--with a lot of industrial-type locations. We drove to the Monastery of Montserrat, which is located at the base(? was still very far from the valley floor) of the mountain Montserrat, which means "jagged mountain" in old Spanish. The monastery was really more of a city with a cafeteria, a zipper train to take you up the mountain, a few funicular systems (those pods that ride on cables above the city) and most importantly, the cathedral.
We arrived around 11 this morning. The drive was very scenic, but the road up there--two lanes, hundred foot drop-off and a big shaky bus--was, um, nerve-wracking to say the least. Genny (one of my professors), her two kids I and M, Bethany and I hiked up Montserrat. It. Was. Daunting. For one thing, the paved path was very steep in some places. The air really does get thinner at that elevation--your heart starts pumping faster to try to take in as much oxygen as possible to feed your muscles, which are climbing at a hard incline. There's something called the tree line, which is basically a point where even trees stop growing and it's just bare rock until the top of the mountain. Not even they can live in the thin air. There are no bugs, no birds... just the crunch of your shoes on the gravel and your own breathing. People passed me coming up and going down, so you could hear them chattering for a ways, and then quiet again. Very serene.
I didn't make it to the top of Montserrat. I made it up about 900meters (roughly 2700 feet, or half a mile) in elevation... no clue how far in distance i hiked. I had to stop and wait for the others to go up (which they didn't reach the top either, not enough time) and come back because the air was just so thin. I could literally feel my sinuses contracting as i tried to take breaths. It was like no matter how much air i sucked into my lungs, it just wasn't enough. In hindsight, I did really well considering that I've never hiked before, or been at such a high elevation. I was wearing a basic pair of mary jane shoes--fine for walking around town, but not suitable for hiking--and i didn't have any equipment like a walking stick or rappelling gear or anything. Not to mention I was born and raised below sea level! Someday, I'd like to go back and finish that hike, but with an easier pace and better shoes. The pictures I have from the overlooks are gorgeous, but I bet the view from the top is spectacular.
Genny, the kids, Bethany and I powerwalked down the mountain to get back to the monastery in time to see the Boys' Choir perform with the rest of the class, but they were on vacation. Instead, we went to Mass and then Bethany and I took a walking tour inside the cathedral to see La Moreneta, or the Black Virgin of Montserrat--the patroness of Catalonia. We went through chambers in the church with other saints before reaching the Virgin's sanctuary at the top of the stairs. She and the Christ Child were encased in a plastic box but her hand was sticking out so you could touch it. The entire thing was a very beautiful, very impressive event, both because of the experience and the amazing ornate decorations in the church, dating from the 13th century.
After a quiz (what?! who gives quizzes on the vacation of a lifetime? Centre College, that's who) and lunch, we headed back to the bus and drove to Lleida. The city is nice but not nearly as cool (to me) as Barcelona. There's no metro, just buses and I think they stop running at a certain time, so most of the time we'll walk. The hotel is very awesome, very grand and beautiful--and in the back is the train station! Luckily the trains are very quiet (they're electric--boogie woogie oogie!) and they don't disturb us at all.
A couple of students from Centre were/are exchange students at the Universidad de Lleida, so we met with them and one of them brought a local friend along to have a Q&A session. After, we all went out for tapas (I had "tigres", which were mussels mixed into a stuffing-like batter and put back into the shells and fried potato circles covered in a red and white sauce) and some of the group went further into town to party, but a few of us returned to the hotel, which is where I am now.
I should explain some customs here, revolving around the Spanish and their leisure time. First of all, there's a little thing called siesta--it's a 2-3 hour period each day where people go home for lunch, take naps and spend a little time with their families. (Family is VERY big in Spain.) For tourists, this makes things difficult if you want to go to a local store or a bank at 1pm, and the place is locked up until 3 or even 4pm. On Fridays, many businesses take a half-day at siesta time and don't come back. Next, the Spanish have to have an extended day to make up for siesta time. Around 7 or 8 when most people get off work, they meet with friends or family and go to a tapas bar (not topless, thank you very much) for appetizer-like snacks and wine or drinks. After tapas, then the group will go to a real restaurant for dinner, or back to someone's house to cook. This means that most people have dinner around 9-11pm, so lunch (at siesta time!) is the most important meal of the day. For young(er) people, after dinner you hop on the metro and go to a bar or discotheque. Some of the clubs here don't open until 2am! The nightlife is very vibrant and very much acceptable here.
So, that's that! As usual, comments and questions go to the comments section--I know I haven't answered any of them personally but I have read them all and appreciate your messages! I'm glad to be caught up because this week we'll be hotel hopping and I'll have to present on my topic as well, so in case I get backed up again there will be a lot to read and even more pictures to enjoy.
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