Undermanager
Veteran Member
Day 1 - To Montserrat we go ......
4 yrs since the last Camino, older, less brain cells, easily confused usually followed by a touch of frustration and sometimes panic
. I left Coventry, UK at 6.30am and made it to Barcelona's Plaza Espanya by 2.00pm, and also managed to get my folding walking poles through security as well. The first panic moment on arrival was my phone roaming wasn't working! Luckily, the airport wifi was, and after a Google, I found out that I needed to set up a new APN in the mobile phone settings. Good grief.
Bus 46 takes you from right out front of the airport to the plaza in about 30 minutes. After finding a Santander ATM for some Euros and having the first of what will be many hundreds of cafe con leches and bocodillos, I wandered aimlessly around Plaza Espanya for about 15 minutes, a huge underground labyrinth of shops, metro lines and normal trains on different levels. I stumbled onto what I suspect was the one and only Montserrat rail line sign by pure luck, then was helped to buy a €15 train and cable car combo ticket, and helped to the platform, then helped to the right train leaving at 14.36. I think I may have lost some powers of common sense, direction, logical reasoning and a few other things as well. And I seem to have mislaid my baseball cap. Is there any hope? On a more fun note, lots of women are carrying single red roses everywhere, to do with St George's day, I think.
Finally, I got on the train, from Platform 4, train number R5. All the trains have their number on an LED sign on the side. Mine arrived as S8 and changed into R5. We are at least heading in the right direction (maybe). It takes just over an hour and 22 stops to get to the Aeri de Montserrat station, the stop you need to get off at, to then get the cable car next to the station up to Montserrat.
It certainly gets chilly in Montserrat as the evening draws in so have a light jacket to hand. There are plenty of superb views here, a few hotel complexes, cafes and tourist shops, plus a big parking lot for coaches. And then there's the Basilica (€8), Thrown of our Lady (€11), vespers / choir (€11) and a €25 combo ticket (presumably with fries). There are also other things you can visit if so inclined. I decided to pass and look at the pictures on the Internet instead
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The albergue is top notch. I checked in at the Pastoral Coordination Center, where a very nice chap will stamp your credential, take your €10 and get you orientated. After a shower in the clean, warm 6 person dorm and a general wander around the sites, I sorted out where the start of the Camino was for tomorrow. There are eating options here, but they are limited, especially after about 6.00pm, and they're somewhat pricey as well. It might be worth bringing food up with you from Barcelona for the evening and breakfast, as well as water.
An easyish day. Let's see what tomorrow brings ....
4 yrs since the last Camino, older, less brain cells, easily confused usually followed by a touch of frustration and sometimes panic
Bus 46 takes you from right out front of the airport to the plaza in about 30 minutes. After finding a Santander ATM for some Euros and having the first of what will be many hundreds of cafe con leches and bocodillos, I wandered aimlessly around Plaza Espanya for about 15 minutes, a huge underground labyrinth of shops, metro lines and normal trains on different levels. I stumbled onto what I suspect was the one and only Montserrat rail line sign by pure luck, then was helped to buy a €15 train and cable car combo ticket, and helped to the platform, then helped to the right train leaving at 14.36. I think I may have lost some powers of common sense, direction, logical reasoning and a few other things as well. And I seem to have mislaid my baseball cap. Is there any hope? On a more fun note, lots of women are carrying single red roses everywhere, to do with St George's day, I think.
Finally, I got on the train, from Platform 4, train number R5. All the trains have their number on an LED sign on the side. Mine arrived as S8 and changed into R5. We are at least heading in the right direction (maybe). It takes just over an hour and 22 stops to get to the Aeri de Montserrat station, the stop you need to get off at, to then get the cable car next to the station up to Montserrat.
It certainly gets chilly in Montserrat as the evening draws in so have a light jacket to hand. There are plenty of superb views here, a few hotel complexes, cafes and tourist shops, plus a big parking lot for coaches. And then there's the Basilica (€8), Thrown of our Lady (€11), vespers / choir (€11) and a €25 combo ticket (presumably with fries). There are also other things you can visit if so inclined. I decided to pass and look at the pictures on the Internet instead
![Grinning face :grinning: 😀](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png)
The albergue is top notch. I checked in at the Pastoral Coordination Center, where a very nice chap will stamp your credential, take your €10 and get you orientated. After a shower in the clean, warm 6 person dorm and a general wander around the sites, I sorted out where the start of the Camino was for tomorrow. There are eating options here, but they are limited, especially after about 6.00pm, and they're somewhat pricey as well. It might be worth bringing food up with you from Barcelona for the evening and breakfast, as well as water.
An easyish day. Let's see what tomorrow brings ....