Take a Hike

     After a particular late night out we all convinced ourselves we would meet up at an ambitious time of 10:00 and head out for the renowned Montserrat. Well…by the time 11:30 rolled around we were all finally there at the rendezvous point and we headed down the stairs into the train station. We even left the train station by 12:15, 2 hours late…not too shabby for 7 boys eh? On the train Chad and I introduced the rest of the crew to a game called “silent football” a church camp favorite over the years. Lots of laughs were had (silently) and we passed that hour in the train very easily. Many Spanish folks looked at us bewilderedly trying to figure out what we were doing but to no avail, but at least they laughed along with us...maybe at us. We hopped cheerfully off the train and before we knew it we were looking up at the massive mountain we were supposed to hike, all of us wondering if we had bitten off more than we could chew…but it’s all about the baby steps so we crossed the street.

After about 3.5 hours of water breaks, beauty breaks (to take it all in), taking pictures, fraternity representing, throwing rocks, potty breaks, the obligatory naked photos with nature, and whatever else you can imagine boys doing on a hike…we reached the top. It felt as if we were in a Lord of the Rings movie as the buildings themselves looked like a natural extension of the mountain. To reward us for breaking a sweat (a rare occasion) we helped ourselves to some food at the café and explored the top of the mountain. We checked out the cathedral, snapped some cool pictures in some older looking archways, bought some snacks from the local vendors, and of course climbed the monument that said “Please don’t climb the monument” in 3 different languages. For some the photo opp was just too good to pass up… I think they will understand. As we waited for the train home we tried to juggle in a circle with a crushed beer can to show all the on looking Spaniards that Americans actually can play soccer…the fact that we never got past 3 juggles might have proved otherwise…T’was a grand day.