Day 2: Montserrat

This morning we woke up by 8:30 a.m to catch the train to go to Montserrat. What is Montserrat? It is a monastery up in the mountains about an hour outside of Barcelona.
Once there the views are just incredible and definitely worth the trip...even when jet-lagged.
We took the train from the Placa d'Espana (right by our hotel entrance).
The only train company that goes to Montserrat is: La Cremallera de Montserrat. It was super easy to purchase our passes for €31.50 which included the metro and train rides from Barcelona and the funiculars to reach the top of the mountains.
Before leaving we had breakfast and purchase sandwiches (bocadillos: small ham and bread sandwiches that spaniards often eat for breakfast), chips, cookies and water for the day.
Today was just amazing and a great way to start our discovery of Spain.
Here are a few pictures to give you an idea of the majesty of the place:

Going down on the Funicular

Pointing to the Monestary

Refilling our bottles with holy water

Inside the basilic

After spending most of the day there we came back to Barcelona for dinner at La Botiga Restaurante at the top of the arenas. Las arenas used to be a bullfighting rink but they now have been transformed into a 4 stories shopping center, cinemas and restaurant. We then took a little night walk to the Palace of Montjuic. 

Palace of Montjuic

Restaurant La Botiga 

Las Arenas (view from our hotel room:)