Today, while resting with a cup of coffee in my parent’s home, I thought that it was time to write a post about my village, ArbĂșcies (Catalonia). Ten years ago I (Laura) moved to Barcelona to start my university studies but I love going back to my village some weekends to gather a bit of strength for Mondays. đ
Sometimes we need a bit of relax!
Now that we are busy planning our wedding, we have visited several bridal exhibitions in the Girona province, what has reminded us of the beauty of this area. Countryside, rivers, mountains, my village is surrounded by all of that.
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
Autumn is a perfect season for bohemian people. Most of us live in big cities surrounded by cement and asphalt. If we don’t go out from the cities we don’t realise about the season changes as others do in the countryside. For this reason nature has become a value for the modern society. As you know we live in Barcelona, one of the densest cities in Europe where parks and gardens are not so often as we would like. We need to connect with nature sometimes and we did it this week by going by car to one of our favourite places for having a walk and a great lunch with magnificent views. Do you want to discover this place just one hour and fifteen minutes from Barcelona?
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.
