Saveur Art@Ion

 Here we are at Saveur Art at Ion, having an early birthday celebrations for KC. The food was fantastic and always in great company of friends.

Appetizers  

 Chilled Crab Salad - delicious

 Egg Confit - super delicious - must try

 Pumpkin Soup

 mackerel ala plancha

  Roasted Chicken Breast

 GRILLED PORK BELLY, provençal artichoke barigoule 

 australian angus bavette

 POACHED PEAR, pain perdu, vanilla pastry cream, coffee

 CHOCOLATE & PISTACHIO, guanaja fondant, tanariva mousse, caramelised ivory, araguani chips, pistachio ice cream

 TROPICAL, passion fruit sorbet, mango curd, roasted penja pineapples, coconut sablé, cream

 Desserts - Must Try

 KC & William

 Pat, PC, KC and William

 Pat & Peichin

Montserrat

Montserrat Monastery  has been a site of pilgrimages. Montserrat can be taken as a day trip from Barcelona. 

 Anthony & Pat

Montserrat is located 10.335 feet meters above sea level. You can travel to Montserrat by train from Espanya rail station. Then you have the option to take the Cable Ride (Aeri ticket version) to the Monastery after the train journey from Barcelona or the Cremallera Funicular ride to the Monastery (Cremallera ticket version). 

Montserrat Monastery is a significant religious building. The natural spectacular beauty surrounding the monastery is simply breathtaking.

Andorra

After visiting Our Lady of Maritxell, we took a walk around the vicinity. First Time for Anthony to see snow. For me, it's already my 3rd time. 

 At least now the sun is out. You should have seen both of us climbing up the road with snow hitting at our face. Battling the cold and the wind. Yet such views are something we will cherish.

 Anthony, the fabulous guide ala hubby. 

 Taking a leisurely walk down the road to catch the bus back to the city

For someone who is afraid of the cold, I never imagined I can survive this experience. Yet truly beautiful sights and memories. 

 Late Jan and it looks so much like Xmas

Goodbye Andorra

Our Lady of Maritxell

Nestled between Spain and France, Andorra is one of the world's smallest countries, with a total population of only about 85,000 people. Perhaps best known for its sheep and Andorra wool it is also home to the shrine of Our Lady of Maritxell.

 We braved the snow and the wind and we made it to see our lady of Maritxell

 Snow yet beautiful sight

 In 1992 the original sanctuary was destroyed by fire and so was the statue.  The Sanctuary has now been rebuilt and contains a replica of the statue. 

 The Sanctuary is open Monday through Saturday from 9am to 1pm and then in the afternoon from 3pm to 6pm. It is open Sundays from 9am to 1pm

 The feast day of Our Lady of Meritxell is September 8 and the Andorran National Holiday

 Our Lady of Meritxell is the patron saint of Andorra. It is a Roman Catholic statue showing the Virgin Mary. The original statue is from the late 12th century. But the chapel it was in burned down on September 8 and 9, 1972. The statue was destroyed. A copy was made in 1976 by Ricardo Bofill.

Address:  AD100 Meritxell, Andorra