A mountaintop experience...

I'm up in the very north of Spain, not far from the border with France. The intensive workshop in foundational coaching skills (FOCOS) will be held next week in a little coastal town about 60 km north of Barcelona. A coaching organisation that we partner with was also planning to run a short training seminar this week, but then they cancelled it due to the low number of applications. As I had already booked my Malaga-Barcelona flights, I decided to use the unexpected extra days to work a bit more on my teaching preparation and to "play tourist" for a couple of days, taking advantage of the opportunity to visit some beauty spots in the province of Cataluña. Montserrat and Girona were the two places that I hoped to see.

Unfortunately, my plans were sabotaged by a huge general strike that disrupted all bus, train and metro transport across the region yesterday. Big political demonstrations were also held in Barcelona, Girona and several other cities. (Something to do with Cataluña's ongoing quest for independence.)

So, after being forced to stay home yesterday, today I decided to take a trip to Montserrat. The name means "Saw Mountain" because of its jagged peaks of sedimentary rock, and it's also the site of a famous monastery and basilica. Although I spent most of the time walking on the mountain top and admiring the stunning scenery that God had created, I also went to a lunchtime church service to hear the world famous Montserrat choir boys singing. 

Montserrat is about an hour's train journey from Barcelona. Once you're almost there, a cable car or a rack railway takes you from the river valley up towards the mountain peaks that surround the monastery and basilica. I went up in the cable car, and came down in the rack railway at the end of the day. There's also a steep little funicular railway that takes you even further up the mountain until you are almost literally touching the clouds. Not today, though, as it was a beautiful sunny day with a deep blue, almost cloudless sky.

From the top of the funicular, you can climb even higher on foot, to little chapels where ancient monks spent time in God's presence, and to craggy peaks that afford stunning views for miles around. Then I decided to take the long, winding walk back down the mountain to the monastery/basilica level again. The weather was lovely and there were some great lookout spots along the way, where metal crosses erected by long ago saints were a reminder that the Creator of such natural beauty is also the Saviour who died to bring us into relationship with Himself.

After my long walk down (more than 9 km - nearly 6 miles) the day was drawing to a close, the evening clouds were gathering and the sun was setting. It was time to catch the rack railway back down to the foot of the mountain, and then the regional trains all the way back to Barcelona and onward to the little town where my friends live. It was not long after seven, but was already dark by the time I arrived home. It had been both energetic and restful, a very enjoyable day.

Tomorrow, we'll be busy with the final preparations for the FOCOS workshop and then on Sunday we'll welcome the trainees arriving from all over Spain and South America. Thanks for your prayers as we work with the group over the coming week.