I woke Ben up to look at the sunrise, but he wasn't mad.
Unreal.
It was Thanksgiving Day. We ate breakfast in the hotel then headed for the funicular to go to the top of the mountain. You can walk, but it's steep and a long way, and we were planning to hike around even higher above the station anyway.
This is the little village area from the funicular station across the way.
We decided to do the middle-difficulty hike. Do you wonder why I always end up hiking around on steep mountain paths when I am very specifically afraid of hiking around on steep mountain paths? I wonder. I guess I'm a good wife. Also, though, I am always glad I did it, once I'm safely off the steep path.
There are lots of additional small chapels and shrines all over this mountain.
Up up up. We could see the Pyrenees in the distance even better this second day.
Here I am with the tiny monastery far below.
We kept running across the same couple of Japanese women on this trail. They spoke no English. We sat with them and watched this goat (and his friends, not pictured) scrabble around on the rocky hillside for a while. I thought they were deer until long afterward, but Ben set me straight (and then made fun of me).
Uggghg any time there are ropes set into the wall you know it's not something I'm going to be super excited about. There were parts of this trail that were pretty intense climbs, to the point where we weren't even sure we were going the right way. But I kept thinking if those Japanese ladies (pictured below) could handle it, I surely could.
This is a pretty incredible place.
We hiked all the way back down to the monastery and picked up our bags, then headed back down the cable car.
We made it back to Barcelona in time for lunch, which we ate near our hotel at an outdoor cafe. A Russian family sat next to us at this restaurant for a time, but left after their child pounded on the table and demanded Greek chicken. The waiter explained they don't have Greek chicken so everyone got up and left. It was pretty weird.
Right next to the restaurant is this cultural center that has a bunch of old ruins with explanatory information. Wandering through there made me realize I know absolutely nothing about the history of northern Spain.
The entrance to the El Born neighborhood was right next to this building, a block or so behind our hotel. We couldn't have asked for a better location.
For dinner, we went to Cal Pep, recommended by my boss. It was a small place with a tapas bar in the front and a tiny, packed room in the back. My boss says it is "quite famous." I can tell you that it was good! We let the waiter pick what we should have. Among the things he chose were these fried artichoke hearts:
And beef tartare which was just very, very good. Sometimes my brain can't handle beef tartare, but this one made it all right.
Also fried sardines & calamari, of course.
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