The One Where I Go Home (24th June 2011)

The last day at Montserrat is over. The leaving ceremony for the boys in the top year was very moving, but most of them will return at some point in the early future to revisit the place where they spent five of their growing-up years.

All I have to do now, as I sit here at Barcelona airport waiting for my flight to Galicia, is to leave you with some photos from The Room With The View. I hope you enjoy them!

I hope you enjoyed this blog! Next stop will be my blog on Hong Kong and Macau, so follow it on http://theducklingridehongkong.blogspot.com/

I hope you enjoy it too!

Fireworks from Above: Last Full Day Part 2 (23rd June 2011)

My time here at Montserrat is very quickly coming to a close. Perhaps too quickly! I normally take my camera around with me, but this week has been even more so. One photo says a million words, so 2000 photos from the last six months would write quite a few volumes! But what way to end my stay in Montserrat than with the famous “Nit de Sant Joan”.

Catalunya is possibly one of the regions with more culture in the whole of Spain. Obviously, every single region is packed with traditions and with a calendar splashed with countless local fiestas and national or autonomous bank holidays. And even more so as Summer rushes round the corner, with the usual heat, laziness and relaxed atmosphere for which Spain is known around the world. And Sant Joan (Saint John) is much more celebrated in Catalunya than it is in the rest of Spain, so to not go out onto the streets to build a bonfire, throw fireworks, eat the regional “coca” (traditional cake) and drink wine would be almost sinful in the eyes of Catalans. And especially at Montserrat, known to have been a crib to Catalan patriotism and regional identity for such a long time.

It is tradition that a flame is lit at Catalunya's “sacred mountain”, called the Canigo, in the Pyrenees, which is then passed on, rather in the same way as the Olympic flame, in different directions towards every town and city in Catalunya. The flame which reached Montserrat arrived at around 11:30 pm, 23^rd June, escorted by runners from the nearby town of Igualada, who had completed the semi-impossible by running from their town all the way up the steep slopes of Montserrat mountain. They were closely followed by a few other runners bringing with them a twenty or so metre long Catalan flag.

The flame was then thrown onto the pyre of wood which was placed outside the main church building and a night of merry drinking and eating, along with fireworks, quickly ensued. Like I said, there is no better way to experience a last night in Barcelona than this!

However, the most amazing sight had not yet happaned. The Room With The View (my room in the school) faces towards Barcelona, with many small towns along the way, interspersed between small hills and larger mountains. Once I reached my room in the early hours of the morning, I could see that celebrations had only just got into full swing in other places: small bursts of light which happened every split second confirmed that most other people had only just started a long night of celebrating Sant Joan and the official start of Summer for Catalans. 

Revetlla de Sant Joan a Montserrat

Over the next three or four minutes I felt like there was no better way to see Sant Joan than from above. My view was not restricted by buildings, there was only air between me and all the lights away and beyond the edges of the mountain on top of which I was. Regular bursts of light and minuscule showers disturbed the normally flickering lights, but tonight the whole area around and under me was blazing with explosions and distant rumblings. A sight to remember for a long time and a better way to experience Sant Joan there could not be!

Climbing Montserrat Once More: Last Full Day Part 1 (23rd June 2011)

An early mist had settled around the whole fo Montserrat, reminding people that this mountain is like no other. The whole atmosphere was almost winter-like: mist crept up the slopes and the sun dispersed it slowly, gradually filling the whole mountain with light once more.

The first weekend I had been at Montserrat I had gone to visit the tallest point of Montserrta mountain: Sant Jeroni. And today, my last full day, we were to visit the peak of Sant Antoni, with views of the famous “finger rock”, a tall pinnacle visible from many parts of the surrounding land.

Once more, the weather was the main control factor of the day, although I was able to take some of my favourite photos of the last six months that morning:

Its a very strange phenomenon that happens here: the mist usually settles right below the level at which the buildings, and in March the snow fell to that same level below the line of buildings at the top of the mountain. Today, the mist created some beautiful effects around the mountain. We were perched at the top of the peak behind the school and abbey. The cornice of the mountain was surrounded by a clearly marked line of mist which bulged around the car park and restaurant, but never rose above that level. A real bird's-eye view. We were peering straight into a wall of white nothingness around the rocks, and it really felt like we were at the top of the world at that point.

Sant Antoni has great views around Montserrat. Although not as tall as Sant Jeroni, the views are perhaps more impressive, with the famous “finger rock” next to us. There is a peculiar figure always seated at the top of this rock. It reminded me of the statue on the top of a hill back at

school in England, only the hill was completely vertical and around one hundred metres tall. It is in fact a statue of the Moreneta, the Black Madonna of Montserrat. And masses are held there regularly apparently too! I don't know how exactly they manage to lift an altar and a whole congregation up there without a helicopter, but it must be an incredible experience to be at the top of that rock.