Up about 6, as our train was leaving at 8:34 a.m. and we didn’t want to miss it! Out the door at 7, and walked across the street to Valencia Nord train station – from there to catch the bus to Joaquin Sollada station…and I timed it – the bus took 2 minutes and 20 seconds going slowly around two traffic circles and up a ramp…told you we should have walked!
The McDonald’s was the only thing open at that time, so in we went and found out that, lo and behold! They serve hamburgers and French fries at ANY time! So, a Big Mac for me and a 1955 (don’t ask…something to do with McDonald’s first location in Des Plaines, IL…) for Robert. Passed the time there until our platform was announced for Tarragona. And that’s when trouble started! They x-ray luggage, and we found out that we couldn’t take our Chef’s knife with us!! Now, how we were able to get it from Barca to Valencia, we ask…so, had to unlock the larger case and find the damn knife and leave it there…VERY pissed, let me tell you! I mean, can you picture the scene: Take this train to Cuba!!
So…on to the train and out right on time. It is only two hours to Tarragona, and the scenes once again following the ocean along were quite lovely. We’ve also been fortunate in the weather. We have only had rain once, the concert night in Barcelona, and even then, it was all over by the time the concert ended. We saw on a television weather program that a cold wave is sweeping east across the country, but so far we’ve managed to stay ahead of it! So…on to Tarragona, an ancient Roman port.
Found Hotel Placa de la Font in the old part of Tarragona, right on one of the main squares and totally surrounded by Roman ruins; they’re everywhere! It’s only two stars, but it really quite lovely! Sparkling clean, large room and bathroom, as well as a small balcony on the top (5th) floor…and even better, it was ready for us when we got here at 11 a.m. Yipee! As we definitely wanted to change into shorts for walking around. They don’t have WiFi in the rooms, though, so we’ll have to write and prep the photos in our room and then migrate downstairs to connect to the internet.
Our first spot to look at is the Roman Circus, one end of which is just down the street from our hotel. It looks like the side walls of the circus are probably directly under our hotel. Had a walk around and then headed down toward the harbor for the amphitheatre. It is in very good repair, considering that the same site has been used for a Roma amphitheatre, a Christian church, a convent as well as a prison – who says you can’t multitask with a building or two?
The circus, amphitheatre and aqueduct -
Walked back u-p the hill and had lunch at our hotel’s outdoor seating area. Simple pizzas for both of us, along with big glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice – terrific and now am wondering when we’ll want to eat again! (Note to tour director: If we want to eat a big dinner, try and eat a smaller lunch…we should know this by now…)
Pictures from our balcony and around town -
Found a convenient taxi cab to take us a few kilometers out of town to the site of the Roman aqueduct. (After Pont du Gard, we’re very fond of aqueducts!) It is under massive restoration, so we weren’t able to see as much as we would have liked, but as Robert says, it gives us a reason to come back when it’s finished! Back to town and decided to have a bit of a lie-down.
Up again and out around 4:30 p.m. and over to the Museu Nacional Arqueologic (National Archeology Museum) not too far away. (I would like to take a moment to address a very interesting phenomenon – the Catalan language. I do not remember much of my one semester of college Spanish, but I do remember a great deal of my HS and college French – and I am doing really very well translating Catalan into English! We’ll come to two signs – the first in Catalan and the second in Spanish – and R will be reading one, and I’ll be reading the other! I am so surprised, as the first time we went to Barcelona, I don’t remember being able to understand a thing! But I think that Catalan is much closer at its root to French; will definitely do some research on that when we get home.)
As it was International Museum Day today (who knew?) the museum was free. A lovely collection of mosaics and some painted wall panels. Very nice collection displayed very well in a lovely building. Enjoyed it very much!
Right next door to the Museum was the Praetorium, part of the Roman circus. Elevatored to the top of the building for a spectacular view of the area, then worked our way down to the longitudinal and latitudinal tunnels that supported the old Roman circus. They were amazing! So hard to believe they’re still there, and for the most part, are built over by modern day buildings! Came out on the Roman circus side and sauntered back to the hotel. Blogging now, and then we’ll head out for dinner. I’m afraid that, as Robert says, the area has signs of becoming Australian…(in OZ, the food in the large cities is superb … but as you get away from these culinary oases, the food gets progressively worse and worse…afraid that may be the case here in Tarragona, but will try and google Tripadvisor.com and see if we can get a good recommendation of a place to eat tonight…hmmm…)
So, more Roman exploring in the morning, (definitely want to tour the walls) as our train to Montpellier, France, doesn’t leave until just after 3 p.m. tomorrow!
Much love,
m
x
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