10 September 2023

10 September 2023

Diane

Just to clear up a couple points . . . . Yes, we had champagne on the flight, and they offered white wine as well at no extra cost. And, yes, both Val and I have our luggage. Mine came the first night and hers came the next afternoon. We were much relieved. The picture of the Sagrada Familia was elongated on all our phones. According to Francesco, it’s the tallest interior of a church anywhere, but it’s not as tall as it looks in the picture, nor were the people about 8’6″ tall.

Today we went to the monastery church at Montserrat, which is a mountain a bit outside of Barcelona. I’ve never seen so many priests in my life, except maybe on TV when they change popes. One guy in a black cassock got the audience/congregation warmed up before the service began. And a lot of the congregation sang at every opportunity. We had gone largely because of the boys’ choir, but they sang less today because it was Sunday than I think they sing when it’s more of a concert. Still, we enjoyed the singing, and Val barely managed to stay awake during the mass.

The church interior at Montserrat with the black madonna high above the apse. The black madonna’s right hand holds the orb and is extended to people who get about 15 seconds in front of her. Apparently they touch or kiss her hand. I decided we could forego that one.

While we were at Montserrat, we saw a traditional Catalan event–a human tower. I can’t imagine being on the bottom of that pile, nor would I be too keen on having my six-year-old kid on top of the formation. It was fun but a little unnerving.

The guys in the pink were a less experienced group being mentored by the guys in blue. Francesco said the groups practice twice a week. They’re accompanied by drums and something like shawms (medieval double-reeded instruments) that tell the people on the pile when to start dismounting, etc.

Then, back to napping and lunch. It seems as if all we do is eat. Tonight was a cooking class for Tom, Deb, Skip and me. We made paella and crema catalan. Delicious, even if I do say so myself. Val and Dan went back to the tapas place where we ate a couple of nights ago–delish again.

Tom wasn’t feeling well earlier today but rallied very nicely for the cooking class.
Our teacher/chef, “authentic” paella, and the four of us getting ready to eat it. What we call paella at home isn’t the real thing at all, according to the chef. No surprise there.

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    1. Originally, paella did not include fish, but we had mussels and cuttlefish in ours. It’s got to do with the type of rice and how you cut up the vegetables. We’re supposed to get the recipes from her, so we can pass the on once we receive them.

  2. Thank you for sharing your blog with me. Enjoyed this first entry and great photos!
    Tell Val that I feel somewhat vindicated as a frequent solo traveler who never checks her suitcase and rags on her for trusting the airlines, lol. (So glad you didn’t have to wait too long for them!)
    Looking forward to your posts…
    Nancy of Salem