Monserrat, the Mountain Side Monastery

Monserrat, the Mountain Side Monastery

Aaron generally leaves most of the travel planning up to me, so when he asked if we could go to Montserrat when we were in Barcelona, I made sure to make it happen. Montserrat has a long history as a monastery, pilgrimage site, and the place where St. Ignatius (founder of the Jesuit order, the order of priests that ran Aaron's high school in Detroit) stayed in prayer and wrote his famous book, Hearts on Fire. Today, it is a Benedictine monastery with a beautiful church, a number of places to quietly pray, and a boys choir. Aside from it's religious significance, Montserrat is a stunning place to visit in the mountains just outside of the city.

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What We Ate in Barcelona - A Food Diary

What We Ate in Barcelona - A Food Diary

Let's just say this, the food in Spain ruined all food for us for a long time. When we got home, we actually had trouble feeding ourselves because nothing sounded as good as the tapas that we ate in Barcelona. Almost everywhere we went, we ate tapas. I realize that there are many other foods to eat in Barcelona, but the price and portion, not to mention all the different varieties to choose from of tapas are pretty much perfect. They're even more perfect when paired with a sangria (for Aaron) or a virgin mojito (for me). So wanna see some of the amazing food we consumed?

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Sagrada Familia

Sagrada Familia

We had originally planned to visit Sagrada Familia on Saturday morning. We had purchsed tickets for both the church and a visit to the Nativity tower ahead of time (an absolute MUST if you want to see the inside of the church, and you will after you see the pictures), but with all of our travel issues, it didn't happen. Thankfully, I was able to cancel and get a refund for our old tickets and purchase new tickets for Monday morning, but because it was late, we weren't able to go up in either of the towers. Regardless, this church is still absolutely stunning, both inside and out, and should be one of the things that everyone sees when they visit Barcelona.

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