August 19th.

Jaume and Montserrat (my wonderful Servas hosts) picked my up at the Barcelona airport and we drove 60km to Manresa. They live in an apartment with a view of Montserrat (the mountain).

Montserrat is the name of my hostess, the mountain and the local Basilian Monastery. It is in Catalunya so they speak Catalan and Spanish.

After our gazpacho and main course for lunch at home they took me to a mall to buy my SIM cards. With much translation from Catalan to English and back again I discovered that I cannot get a sim for my iPad without a contract so I will only be posting with photos when I have Wifi. Then Jaume went to work in their garden and Montserrat and I went to visit the Gothic Church, La Sue, built beginning in 1325. Afterwards we stopped at a small shop where Montserrat bought fresh cumin and a combination of herbs to make an infusion to drink at night. The shop has been in the same family for 100 years. All of the herbs ares stored in drawers which go from floor to ceiling.

Woman mixing herbs for infusion.

Streets of Manresa.
They helped me call Leonardo in Barcelona to make arrangements for him to meet me at the train on the 21st. We had omelet with zucchini and onions plus salad for supper at 9:00 pm. After dinner we enjoyed the tea infusion made from herbs Montserrat purchased and went to sleep.

August 20th
I awoke at 4 am and was awake until 6. Then I fell asleep again and Montserrat woke me at 11:30. Yikes, must be jet lag. After breakfast we drove to the small village, Santpedor, which enjoyed important splendor during the 14th century. The old quarter keeps the appearance of a medieval village. I enjoyed wandering through the quiet streets as most of the residents were at work. The Sant Pere Church was closed, so we only viewed it from the outside.

Streets of Santpedor

 

 

 

 

 

After our spaghetti and also ecological hamburger lunch at home we all took a siesta, possibly a new custom for me in Spain. Ecological is their word for organic. Eating organic food is most common here. Lunch is the main meal of the day. Then we drove to Montserrat (the mountain). On the mountain we went to the museum which has a collection of art and archaeology and to the Basilica . It was a beautiful drive.

Then we went to Jaume’s organic garden. Some of things he grows are tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, carrots, zucchini, almonds, hazelnuts, peaches, and much more. He has had this garden for three years and is turning it to organic. Supper at 9 was a wonderful vegetable stir fry and fresh tomatoes from the garden. I went to sleep at 10 pm and slept through the night.

In the morning Montserrat hung out the laundry in the area off the deck that is protected from the rain.

After breakfast they took me to the train station for my ride to Barcelona.
It has been a joy spending time with Montserrat and Jaume. They are a loving couple and often make each other laugh as they converse in Catalan, I am so happy that they accepted me as their Servas guest.