A fairly early start this morning to join our tour to visit medieval villages in the hills surrounding Barcelona.
It was advertised as a small group tour but we were expecting more than 8 people! We were seated next to a girl from South Africa and spent a bit of time with her during the day.
Our first stop was Besalu, a tiny village accessible by a stone bridge with narrow winding streets and an old Jewish quarter. It is interesting that the Jews were not affected by the plague as early as the Christians because they washed their hands before each meal.
We then progressed along very windy roads as we climbed the hills with views of the snow capped Pyrenees in the background. We stopped at a viewpoint to take photos.
Out next village was Rupit, stretching along a river, this one was accessible by a swing bridge over the river. It has existed for centuries and grew when people wanted to escape the attacks from the Moors. It was perfectly preserved and many houses had the date they were built over the doorway. Most we 16th century but there were a couple of modern 17th century houses.
Our guide recommended a restaurant and certain typical Catalan dishes in the set menu. For 17 euro each we had entree, main course, dessert, drink and bread. We chose everything recommended and it was delicious.
Our final stop was for views of the country side.
We got back to Barcelona our in the evening, grabbed some tapas from the market to heat later (we weren’t hungry!) and headed home through the crowds of locals out on a Saturday night.
Winter adventures 
Fantastic photos – the villages look really interesting and I love the view of the Pyrenees.
LikeLike