After
disembarking at Barcelona at breakfast time we were faced with the long drive
north and decided to visit the Monestir de
Montserrat and Roca de St. Jaume just outside the city, (it would have
been rude not to) The monastery is 1,236 metres (4,055 ft) above the valley
floor, and is the highest point of the Catalan lowlands, and stands central to
the most populated part of Catalonia. We went up on the railway and then
funicular railway (jaw droppingly scary) to the highest point, Sant Jeroni,
and then by a footpath. From
here we could see almost all of Catalonia, and on a clear day the island
of Mallorca is
visible.
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| From Sant Jeroni |
Having
spent half the day at Montserrat we still had the drive home so decided to go
via the principality of Andorra (tax haven) and stop one night there to break
the journey. For me this was the
highlight of the whole trip. Andorra is
in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and
bordered by Spain and France. It is
the sixth smallest nation in Europe, with an estimated population of 85,000. We did not make it to the capital city Andorra la Vella, which is the highest
capital city in Europe, 3,356 ft above sea level (compare this with Ben Nevis summit which is 4,409 ft). We found out that the people of Andorra
have the third highest human life expectancy in the
world – 84 years and we could see why. It was just stunning – the scenery and sense
of being lost in time. Andorra is
definitely on the list of places to go back to. We stayed in Sant Julià de Loria and found (via McDonaolds WiFi) a ‘booking.com’ 4 star hotel for half price on the Sunday night. On Monday
morning we enjoyed an awesome drive north to the border, en route taking advantage
of a ski lift (9 euros each to go up 2,500 feet) to watch skiers and enjoy a
coffee in brilliant sunshine amid a snow capped peaks.
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| Restaurant window reflecting ski scene behind me.... |
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