The Adventurous Mind

A couple of years ago, my family and I ventured to Europe and spent 9 days exploring France and Spain together. While in Barcelona, we took a quick day trip to visit Montserrat and the monastery that sits at the peak of the mountain.

Upon arrival, we took a cable car to get to the top of the mountain (if you’re not fond of heights, this would not have been enjoyable for you). Once we made it to the top, we were all in high spirits. We ate a good lunch at the dining hall, basked beneath the beauty of the monastery, took in the surrounding views, and ended our excursion with a delicious mango gelato.

At this point, our train back to Barcelona was leaving in one hour, and my family was making plans to return via the cable car. I had different plans.

I desired a challenge. So, I devised an ingenious plan to hike down… sorry… to run down the mountain. I had exactly one hour to make it down Montserrat and to the train station before our train left without me. I didn’t waver for a second.

With adrenaline pumping through my veins, I began my trek downwards. The hike itself was stunning. I descended down jagged rock edges and rigid stairways. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking. It felt like something out of a movie. I was running down a mountain in Spain, living freely, surrounded by immense beauty, with excitement in my chest not knowing whether or not I was going to make it down in time… nor what would happen if I missed the train.

The clock continued to tick, but out in the distance, I saw the train station growing ever closer. With 15 minutes left, I really started to kick it into high gear. I ran along the dry dirt path and finally made it to the road in the valley. With cars flying past me, I continued to run at race pace along the side of the road. I had 7 minutes before the train, and my family, left me behind.

I rounded the corner, and there at the end, the train station lay in waiting with open arms. I took off. I sprinted to it, clambered up the stairs, and with 2 minutes remaining, I reunited with my family. They didn’t think I was going to make it.

The train showed up exactly 2 minutes later and we all boarded together. I felt a little bad for them though, because they then had to sit next to me for the entire ride back to Barcelona, and I was a tad sweaty by that point.

If you’re interested in experiencing what this was like, I documented this hike and uploaded it to YouTube. Here’s the video.