A Very Pleasant Surprise for a Very Pleasant Holiday

"Molly. I'm coming to visit you."

"...what?"

"I'm serious. I'm buying my ticket. I'm coming to visit you."

"What?! When?!"

"In less than three weeks."

And so began Jon's semi-surprise visit to come to Barcelona.

Obviously, my excitement was immediately uncontrollable. The thought of being able to spend the rest of the holiday break with Jon Jaeger himself was unbelievable. As a side note, it also ended up being perfect timing. I still had quite a while before I started my classes, and was actually unsure of what I could do with all my free time during winter in Spain since my roommates wouldn't come home for a few more weeks. I am also broke and therefore can't afford fun things like traveling and sightseeing. So needless to say I welcomed my visitor with open arms.

He arrived on January 3rd and would stay for 12 days. And for the majority of the time, we had absolutely nothing to do except enjoy my new Spanish home. To that end, we spent a lot of our days relaxing at home, cooking yummy, fresh, Spanish food, getting to know my new neighborhood, and strolling around the city (and of course taking LOTS of photos!)

He also came with Christmas presents!
Special shout out to Dad for sending a totally stuffed stocking
and Matt O´Brien for the Lady Gaga tour video!

Getting to know my new kitchen while cooking dinner

Catching the sunset in a park near my home

La parque Ciutadella
A huge park in the old part of the city.
10 minute walk from home and complete with a geology museum and zoo!

The pond in the middle of the park

The mammoth (?) in the middle of the park...

More exploring and more parks in the sunshine

Spending a January afternoon at the beach

Lunch by the boardwalk

And to the marina to pick out our future boat

Now THAT´S a pirate ship!

Because both of us had previously studied abroad and had actually traveled to Barcelona before, we had already seen the popular sights [insert Sagrada Familia here]. So we decided that most of them were not necessary to see again at the present moment. We did, however, manage to repeat one of our favorites: Park Guell.

Overlook on our way to Park Guell

Park Guell:
This section of the park was meant to look like waves of water

The famous tiled benches at Park Guell

Entrance to Park Guell

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We also wanted to get out of the city a bit, so we took a fantastic day trip to a city close to Barcelona called Montserrat, a rather peculiar place famous for its monastery and strange rock formations.

After a short train ride, we arrived to find the mountain city completely covered in a thick fog. Needless to say I now have a better idea of what it would be like to live in a cloud...

Taking the funicular up the mountain

Looking down from the funicular.
I seriously wasn´t kidding about the fog.

The top of the mountain, the city of Montserrat

"Welcome to Montserrat, You who have come to visit Saint Mary in Her mountain sanctuary."

At first I was really bummed out about the dang fog. We couldn't see a thing! We did come, after all, to see the dang rock formations, didn't we?! 

But I soon calmed down when I realized that the fog actually made our trip quite interesting. Indeed, walking down a narrow path on the side of a mountain absolutely covered in fog is eerie, to say the least (isn't there a horror movie about that?). And it was something that neither of us had ever experienced before. (Also Jon reminded me that it was still quite early in the day and the fog would surely clear up soon).

So we began with a stroll down the Cami dels Degotalls.This path is meant to be a sort of religious pilgrimage. For us, it was a really creepy walk down a trail we couldn't see underneath giant rock formations we couldn't see and above a great view of the city below us we couldn't see.

As the fog was beginning to clear a bit, we could just make out the giant rocks on top of us

Our view looking outwards from the trail on the edge of the mountain towards a city we couldn't see

The trail was sprinkled with dedications to saints

oops. Lost him.
It took me far longer than it should have to walk down that path alone.
Fog is scary!

Made it to the end of the trail!

We did it!

The fog beginning to clear. (So there IS a giant rock there!)

We also visited the famous Monastery of Montserrat. I have seen quite a few monasteries in my day, but this one was really quite beautiful.

The entrance to the Monastery

Inside the Monastery

Breathtaking!

We were fortunate enough to hear the organ play during our visit

View from behind the altar

Candles for prayers

Next, we decided to take another stab at checking out the famous rock formations on another hike up the mountain. 

In another funicular to climb up even higher!

 [And if you are interested, here are some fun facts about the rock formations:]

The amazing rock formations of Montserrat have a long history. They were formed from ancient fragments of rock and then transported by rivers and mountain streams to the bottom of a tropical sea, which dried up many millions of years before the existence of the first human being. Between about 23 and 30 million years ago, the same force from inside the Earth that formed the Pyrenees Mountains pushed up the rocks from the bottom of the former sea via folds and faults. Then the erosion from water, ice, and wind started to uncover the conglomerates we see today.

Blue skies and rock formations!

Our trail: To the Hermitage of Saint Joan

There they are!

And finally, that view.

As I mentioned, our trail led us to the Hermitage of Saint Joan. Now, you may be thinking, "What the heck is a hermitage? And why are you so compelled to visit it?" Well, I'm glad you asked:

A hermitage is any secluded place of residence or habitation; a retreat or hideaway. This particular hermitage was named after Saint John the Baptist and was built in order to take advantage of a cavity in the mountain. It is considered to be the best located hermitage in the world, with good views and spacious rooms. It is said that from this hermitage, on a clear day, one is able to see the Spanish islands of Mallorca and Menorca. Due to its great location, and the fact it had two water deposits, it was an ideal place of retirement for abbots from the Montserrat Monastery.

King Phillip III of Spain actually ate lunch at this hermitage on July 10th 1599. The hermitage was destroyed in 1812 during the Peninsula War and was partially reconstructed in 1858. At the beginning of the 20th century, a restaurant was constructed above the remains of the hermitage. However, it was demolished in order to permit the continued restoration of the hermitage.

And yes, hermitage quickly became my new favorite word of the day...

Hermitage

Just call me a hermit.

"Molly. Stop taking photos and hang on to the rope."

We made it to the top!

Yes! I summited a mountain!

Even with the scary fog, it was a great day. And we even did some exercise! In the end, I will definitely add Montserrat to my list of most interesting day trips (right next to Gibraltar), and the word 'hermitage' will never be absent from my daily vocabulary again.

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Well, the 12 days went by quickly, as expected. He came, we relaxed, we strolled, we dined, we traveled, and he left. But because I had not planned on a visit from Jon (we actually thought we wouldn't see each other for more than 6 months when I left Madison), it still all seems surreal (cheesy, but true).

It was also a new experience for both of us to live in a foreign country together. Both of us are used to traveling, but this time we actually lived like Spaniards for 12 days. In fact, we thoroughly enjoyed our trips to the supermarket, strolls through the neighborhood parks, and evening chats in Spanglish with my roommates. Moreover, it was the first time ever that we were both across the pond at the same time. Therefore, it undoubtedly amounted to a very special and pleasantly surprising holiday.