Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey

This is the Benedictine abbey blipped from St Michael’s Cross, further north east you could just make the snowy peaks of the Pyrenees and Llogbregat valley 800 metres below. There are around 80 monks who amongst other things provide hospitality to pilgrims walking the Camino Catalán.

I was astonished by the small, often completely overlooked Museum of Montserrat, and indeed I had it to myself. I could have spent the whole time there – Caravaggio, Dali, Picasso (when he was just 15), Degas, Monet all represented.

Back in Barcelona by 4 I wandered around the Gothic quarter where I’m staying and located the city’s Cathedral, having visited the Basilica in Montserrat I gave the cathedral’s interior a miss. Apparently there are geese living in the cloisters, reminding me of the chickens in Santo Domingo de la Calzada on the Camino Francés.

An early night beckons after some more aubergine themed tapas from the café next door.