If you are going to spend some enviable days in Barcelona... you should consider visiting Sant Cugat!
It can take you only a morning if you plan it well and after lunch (Spanish lunchtime, indeed) you can be back in Barcelona with a nice day trip done to add to your traveling baggage.
When you go back to your country, you can tell everyone you've visited Sant Cugat. They will look at you with that "what-da-fuck-you-talkin" face, and you will feel dumb.
Anyway, some reasons for doing a day trip to Sant Cugat could be:
- Its millennial Monastery and Cloister.
- A delicious hike in its natural parks if you love walking in the nature (I'm not really fond of this, honestly)
- Trying one of its long traditional Restaurants (neither a fan)
- And, of course, doing some shopping! (yay...)
But, hey, let's go step by step.
Visit the Monastery of Sant Cugat.
This is mandatory (I just wanted to sound dominant, do whatever you want)
Built in the middle of nowhere, this ancient Monastery built in the year 1000, arises in downtown, and it's going to shock the shit out of your eyes.
Its Rose window is one of the most spectacular rosettes that can be seen in a monastery.
The huge dimensions of the rosette doesn't match the ones of the building, and the result of that contrast will really amaze you. Granted (leave a comment if it doesn't, or just don't. Better.).
And the best is yet to come! Once you've seen the Rosette from the outside, wait for seeing it from the inside. The mix of colors is wonderful, and again the contrast of sizes with the front wall, will make this wonder candy for your sight.
Once inside, have a look at the roof. The arches near the absis are rounded, while the ones closer to the entrance end in a peek. Why? Because the monastery of Sant Cugat is unique in that sense. It was started to be built within the Romanesque era, but it was ended within the Gothic era. Surprising, isn't it?
I wish I could tell you more about the Monastery, but I don't know anything else. Anyway, this information has helped me to impress some girls during my lifetime.
Sant Cugat's Monastery Cloister
Sorry, I don't own any impressive information about the Cloister.
I just can recommend you its visit. All cloisters are an oasis of calm inside every town or city, and this one is no exception. I don't visit it much, you must know this.
Oh, wait! Albert Einstein visited this cloister in 1927! Impressed? I bet you are!
It has two floors, and on the second floor there is an exhibition about the history of something (was it the history of the Monastery's construction? About Sant Cugat? Sorry, I didn't pay much attention, can't remember well. Probably on a hangover). You can visit it and tell me later the topic of the exhibition, thanks.
And by the way, in case you are American: the cloister is attached to the monastery. They always are! Lesson for free.
A pleasant morning in Mercantic
Imagine a small shopping center about antiquities. This is what Mercantic is.
Sounds interesting, right?
If you are one of those who like decorating your house with old lamps and posters, this is your paradise.
Personally, I will never spend a cent on this shit, but you are totally free to waste your money on that if that's your desire.
I only go there because the place has also some bars and terraces serving cold beer and modest tapas. And there is one specific bar, vintage decoration of course, where they play live music once in a while. I think that that bar is attached to an old book shop (yes, those books you buy because you like the front page and the price and then later you never read).
Having lunch in El Mercat Vell
If you aren't very sharp, let me tell you that "mercat" is "market" in Catalan.
Why recommending an old market if buying groceries is never a goal on a day trip?
Well, because it has been remodeled, and its indoors now consists of many small restaurants with many kinds of foods. You can eat anything from a local Catalan steak to some sushi pieces or even some seafood.
It's the kind of place you try to avoid in your village, because meeting someone from your childhood or undesired neighbors is assured.
But you, lucky anonymous traveler, must give it a try.
And, it's 300 meters away from the Monastery of Sant Cugat.
The perfect day trip in Sant Cugat
So, make an early wake-up call in Barcelona and get your ass to Sant Cugat.
I recommend you to do it on a Sunday.
Take the train to Sant Cugat (leaving every 10 min in Plaça Catalunya) and head first to Mercantic. It's kind of a long walk (20 min) but then all's going to be a slope!
After Mercantic, time to go to the Monastery and then get yourself a well deserved treat in the Mercat Vell of Sant Cugat.
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