Just 30 minutes driving from Barcelona, the Bages is an inland region full of history, landmarks like Montserrat and an old tradition of excellent food and wine. We decided to discover a small piece of this land visiting Artium cellar and Món Sant Benet monastery. It was a gastronomic, cultural and historical journey to the heart of Catalonia. In this post we explain all what we learnt, what we ate and what we drank in this one day trip from the well known capital of Catalonia. As always, we try to recommend unknown but valuable sites and experiences out of Barcelona. Hope this post is useful for your next trip to this mediterranean country.
For those people that like walking in the nature, doing trails or climbing, there are two special mountains in Catalonia for this. They are magic for Catalans for different reasons. One of these mountains is Montserrat with its unique features and the astonishing monastery, and the other one is Pedraforca. A little bit further from Barcelona, you can reach Pedraforca base in less than 2h by car. When you approach to the mountain from the east in the morning you get these views.
We love travelling abroad and learning different cultures, but we also like to enjoy our own land, Catalonia, which is full of hidden jewels that remain far from the crowds. We will have fulfilled one of the main purposes of this blog if we manage to encourage you to spend some days in Catalonia out of its capital, Barcelona, discovering the beauty of the rest of the country. So keep reading and let us guide you towards one of the most interesting regions of Inner Catalonia: Osona.
Views from the Monastery of Sant Pere de Casserres
Barcelona is a never ending city regarding the number of experiences you can have. And if we talk about food this fact becomes amplified. Barcelona has a long history that started more than 2,000 years ago and it has always been a trading centre where interaction between cultures and beliefs enriched the city and its inhabitants. One of the main characteristics of every culture is food. What can you expect from Barcelona, irrigated with the Mediterranean charm and spotted with multicultural expressions from all around the world?
Montserrat was once a delta of the Tetis Sea. It was before the growth of the Pyrenees, before the actual Iberian Peninsula and the rest of Europe merged. But then the tectonic forces pushed the Iberian plate towards the north and the land started to compress, fold and grow towards the sky. The Pyrenees were created and other mountains appeared where there used to be sea, plains or deltas. Nowadays Catalonia stands on the land that once was under the water and in the center of the country; Montserrat is still the light that guides the Catalans. It is our sacred mountain and a must-see place when you visit Barcelona.
