The Pilgrimage

The past week has been absolutely amazing. Thursday was Halloween, so of course we went out. Friday morning the interns met up for a pilgrimage to Montserrat, the highest mountain in Catalunya (The state that Barcelona is in). Only five of us showed up plus an advisor, which made for a laid back, personal trip. From the main station, it took 45 minutes by train to travel 30 miles inland to our destination. Then we took a separate train halfway up the mountain to the monastery and “tourist village” where there is an art museum, hotel, cafeteria, and a few overlooks. To me, this stuff was cool, but my favorite part was lunch. The best part happened once we took an incline lift (Mt. Washington style for all you Yinzers) up the second half of the mountain to see the best panoramic views and do some hiking. From the top we could also see the Mediterranean Sea even with the hazy visibility. At the summit there were three hermitages that we could hike to. The first two were each about 15 minutes away and could easily be accessed by a path that was only slightly uphill. The third hermitage was projected to be 25 minutes away and could be accessed by climbing an old, steep and broken up staircase that was basically carved into the side of the mountain. At this point only Leah, and another new intern, Fallon, and I continued on. The ruins were basically evidence of an old stone stove and a little bit of the remaining wall. The reason for climbing to the third hermitage was that you could continue up the mountain to the very top where you were at the highest point achievable without proper climbing gear. I made it most of the way up, but my nerves got the best of me about 20 yards from the top where the path got too narrow for my liking. On the way back down we took an alternate route through the second hermitage which was also in ruins. It was carved right into the side of the mountain face. When we reached the far side of the second hermitage the path flattened and widened significantly and we were able to walk back to the lift easily and then met up with Jazmin and our advisor to return home.