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Dale Flowers's avatar

That first paragraph stopped me dead and sent me down a rabbit hole in search of disambiguation. "...Montserrat...patron saint of Catalunya, the Black Madonna...sighted by shepherds 1,025 years ago". It was a delightful journey/googlefest. Thank you, this gave me a pleasant flashback. After all that I found subsequent paragraphs would have provided me all I needed to know. So, "no", you weren't visiting an island in the Caribbean that is pretty much abandoned because of a volcano and the Black Madonna didn't appear to the Island Arawaks a millennium ago (that I know of). And "Catalunya"...is that place some call "Goth-Alania". Visited Barcelona in 1969, stayed at the Ritz. Had a wonderful time. While dining at the Ritz there was a huge birthday party going on. People my age (21) were dancing while their parents looked on. I got swept up by some friendly young folks in high spirits who insisted I join them in dance. (I don't dance.) I joined them in a long conga line in what they referred to as a "Bunny Hop", in English, as I spoke no Spanish or Catalan. One of the funnest times of my life until they let me drive an OHP Guided Missile Frigate for 4 years when I was 37.

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