We woke up late. Not “almost late”, but properly late, as if the night had stretched out the sheets to tell us we needed a little more rest. Last night the humans went to bed late watching movies on the camper's big screen, and I, with my strategic nap, also took it easy. The morning routine was peaceful, without rushing, with stretching and the occasional yawn synchronised with the sun.

Around half past eleven we finally went out. We went down the stone path, I breathed in the fresh air that always smells like adventure, and then, twenty minutes on the road to Montferri. Here a church caught Uncle Joan's attention, so we stopped and parked.

The church was the Sanctuary of the Mare de Déu de Montserrat, a building that didn't seem at all discreet for being in the middle of the countryside. This hermitage is the work of the modernist architect Josep Maria Jujol, a disciple of Gaudí, and that's why some humans are reminded of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. Construction began in 1925, but between stoppages, wars and lack of money it took a very long time to finish it; it wasn't inaugurated until 1999, more than seventy years later. Its floor plan tries to evoke a boat oriented towards the Montserrat mountain, and it is full of arches and domes that give it a magical air although it is made with humble materials such as stone and cement, and without great luxuries.

We didn't go inside, we just saw it from the outside, but we liked that humble and audacious air it has, perched on the hill, as if it had always been waiting for us to pass by.

We continued the route and almost an hour later we came across La Mussara, the famous abandoned village in the Baix Camp region. I was expecting something spooky, with ghosts and mysterious shadows moving between ruined houses, but the reality was less cinematic. La Mussara is a deserted village located in the Prades mountains, with no inhabitants since 1959, when the lack of water and difficult lands to cultivate pushed its people to leave.

There are ruins of some buildings and the old church of San Salvador with its 19th-century bell tower, and around it the landscape is magnificent, with spectacular panoramic views over the Camp de Tarragona from almost a thousand metres above sea level.

We were a little disappointed. There aren't even three well-preserved houses, and there were quite a few people looking around, taking photos and laughing, so the mysterious atmosphere I was expecting was more "nature tourism" than "movie ghost town". Maybe if we had arrived shrouded in mist it would have been another story... but today the sun was shining and the fog had fallen asleep.

Then we continued by car to Siurana, the village described as "hanging" because of its location on a steep cliff with incredible views of the Siurana reservoir and the valley. There were a lot of people and the paid parking was full of tourist cars, so the experience was a bit... crowded. We walked through what are basically the three main streets of the village and saw its church, but not much more. Maybe I, Chuly, the travelling dog, have already seen so many spectacular views that a village with a lot of people and few mysterious shadows doesn't impress me as much as before.

We went back to the car and went down looking for a place to eat and sleep. After four o'clock we arrived at a cool place in the middle of nature. It was perfect, although we stayed about twenty metres from the planned spot, because it was full of toilet paper. I was very sorry to see that; not all campervan users are as respectful of their surroundings as we are. Having everything so beautiful, it doesn't cost anything to leave it as you found it.

We ate in the camper, filled our stomachs and the views, and decided to stay there to sleep too. In the afternoon the calm was the same as yesterday: I rested in the gentle sun, explored the area a bit and marked a couple of important ideas, as is my custom, while Dad Edu and Uncle Joan went back to their big-screen cinema.

Thus ended another perfect day of travel, with modernist churches, villages with history and nature that seems to be made on purpose for a travelling dog like me to close my eyes with a smile.