Montserrat "The Birth Place of Catalonia"

Montserrat located just an hour out of Barcelona is a perfect day trip and well worth the visit.  You will need to either take the Metro, Tram, or Bus to Espanya Square where you will follow the orange metro sign down below.  There you will purchase a ticket for the R5 train to Montserrat.  When you purchase your ticket you want to pick either cable car or funiculars.  The tickets will cost you between 20 Euros to 27 Euros depending where you purchase them.  You can also purchase them outside Espanya Square from the ticket booth selling city passes.  Montserrat or serrated mountain is the birth place of Catalonia the region in which Barcelona sits.  The monastery  located at the top of the mountain was burned down and all the monks were killed when Napoleon came through with his troops. The location and event is equivalent to our Alamo.  Once you get to the top you can take the challenge of climbing higher to some of the crosses located even higher up on the mountains, have lunch, go to the museum located there, or see the black virgin located inside the church.  I should also explain that Catalonia is more than just a region because the people who live within Catalonia have there own language that is a mix between French and Spanish.  Don't worry if you want to come to Barcelona to practice your Spanish you will be able to do that because everyone speaks Spanish too. The signs here are both in Spanish and in Catalonia.  The people of this region would love to separate from Spain if they could.  This was our last trip in this area as we are moving on to Madrid.  See you soon.