The monastery at Montserrat is often visited as a day trip from Barcelona, indeed there is a train line which stops at the bottom of the cable car. We're in a pretty Hostal in Ministrol de Montserrat, and I'm looking at the sun rising on the sheer mountain face.

Yesterday's drive was supposed to be 3 hours, but took 5 including short stops for fuel & lunch. We didn't arrive until nearly 3pm, which still gave us time to go up on the cable car & see the main sights at the monastery, but in future we'll be sticking to the 3 hour drive rule.

The cable car ride was exciting. We shared the car with around 20 Koreans and at each bump or sway, there was a collective, musical, oooooohhhhhuuuwaaayy, all in perfect time.

At the top, a covered walkway runs along the cliff, suspended in space over a sheer drop, and a near-vertical funicular takes pilgrims up to the higer peak where there is a sanctuary. it seemed odd to see a railway line here as well, the 'cremallera' which had The square was bustling and stalls sold cheese and honey, wine & oil, all branded 'Montserrat'.

Inside the Basilica was a long queue, gradually shuffling along to touch la Moreneta, the statue of the Black Madonna, believed to have been brought from Jerusalem. Montserrat is a place of pilgrimage, people hike here from all over Catalunya, at night, to see the sun rise at the top of the mountain. There were only 8 coaches there so it was a quiet day - there was space for at least another 8 in the coach park.

We could see the snow-covered Pyrenees in the distance. Tomorrow we'll be in them!