Tarragona

Tarragona is just an 80-minute train ride south of Barcelona. We arrived in the early afternoon, and as our hotel was just 5 minutes walk from the train station, we were soon checked-in, at the TI for a map+info, and off on a 4-km walk north to the Roman Aqueduct.

The wealth of Roman ruins in Tarragona (the Roman city of Tárraco) is astounding. It's a UNESCO World Heritage site and may well be the best preserved ancient Roman city outside of Italy. The UNESCO description here explains why.

We toured many but not all of the Roman sites in town, spotted some Modernista architecture, strolled the magnificent Rambla Nova, and ate some tasty veggie food from the 100-year old Market.

On the train.


The Roman Aqueduct...


...on which you can walk across. Cool!


The Nova Rambla ends at the aptly named Balcony of the Mediterranean...


...where we looked down and noted that REFUGEES are WELCOME in Tarragona.


The next day was Market Day on the Nova Rambla.


There is ongoing archaeology at the Roman Theater.


The lower Forum.


The Roman City Wall was built about 200 BC. Most of the stones you see here are from that wall. Amazing!


Some of the Roman wall sat on even earlier stones.


View from the Roman Wall to the city center where the Cathedral sits on top of a Roman Temple.


Cool passageway along side the Roman Circus.


More passages around the Roman Circus.




And looking down from the Roman Wall to the south end of the Circus.


The Roman Amphitheater, with remains of both a 6-century and 12-century Christian church inside.


The Cathedral.


Some Modernista Architecture.


Market Hall.


Former Slaughterhouse.

Off on Barcelona

We have been to Barcelona before (in 2000), so has everyone else, with stories to tell, too. On top of that I did much research. Turns out my idea of Barcelona was a little, a lot, off!

1. Barcelona has beautiful modernist architecture
I LOVED all the modernist architecture the last time we were in Barcelona, so much that I thought we would stay in the neighborhood the next time. We didn't end up doing that only because of the Saint Eulalia festival. We did lots of walking around looking at architecture. I was not at all impressed as I expected to be; probably I have gone seen too much great architecture in the intervening years.

2. Barcelona is Disney-esque
Coming here in February helped, festival weekend neutral (more tourists, but also more locals). We got some sage advice from friends to stay in El Born. Because of the festival, we ended up staying in the far corner of El Born, which meant every coming and going we got to wind through the labyrinth of back alleys free of tourists and tourist shops.

3. Barcelona is sketchy
Given the weather (compared to the rest of the continent) and number of tourists, were I a petty criminal, I'd choose to work in Barcelona this time of the year. So I was on high alert. Alas, I failed to spot anything remotely suspicious.

4. Barcelona gouges tourists on admission. Partly due to the festival, we didn't end up paying for anything.

• National Museum of Catalonia Art (the special Picasso+Romanesque Art exhibit forever changed my perception of both) 
• Modernist Hospital Sant Pau (Orwell referred to it as"the sanitarium")
• Barcelona City History Museum (fascinating multilevel underground excavations)
• Maritime Museum (old shipyard)
• El Born market (not so interesting)
• City Hall Mirador - on Saturdays, one gets to march right through Mayor Ada's office

I have to admit Barcelona has very nice museums; interesting and up to date.

If there is one thing, Barcelona did feel as progressive as I expected, lots of city services, many city employees, cafes and restaurants more egalitarian than trendy; and community participation as evidenced by the festival. We are talking about how we will return to Barcelona.

Casa Mila


Eixample Architecture.






Progressive Barcelona has free loaner bikes and bike lanes.






The peaceful night streets of the El Born district.


View of the city from atop City Hall (more or less).


The City Hall was open to the public on Saturday.


Brunch at Vegetalia.


View from the steps of the National Museum of Catalonia Art.


At National Museum of Catalonia Art, in the Picasso+Romanesque Art exhibit, one could photograph the Romanesque art (part of the permanent collection, but not the Picasso (on loan). Ha! This very large exhibit vividly showed how Picasso was influenced by Romanesque art.


The museum also featured some splendid works by Catalan artist Joaquín Mir - a new fav.




We were awoken Sunday morning by the Barcelona Marathon - a gentle wake up call outside our small balcony.


The Modernist Hospital Sant Pau was amazing. Thanks Kathy for the tip!








Born Market Hall.


Maritime Museum.


The Roman City under the Barcelona City History Museum.


And finally playing some tunes in the vegan Cat Bar after enjoying a hemp burger, fries, and IPA.

Eulalia @ Barcelona

We normally shy away from major festivals because of the multitude of humanity and the astronomical hotel prices. By our usual fortuity, we find ourselves in Barcelona for the Festival of Saint Eulalia, one of Barcelona's patron saints; a children's holiday. What a relief, not too many drunkards to contend with. Boy, was I overwhelmed!

1. Granted Barcelona does not have a small population; however, for us tourists from the atomized land, the legions of residents who turned up for the festival were thoroughly impressive.
2. I remember seeing human towers/castles on TV as a young girl in Shanghai. Yet, in person!!! These people didn't just show up - I can just image the hours of practice.
3. The fireworks parade looks so much fun, my pyromaniac self was green with envy. We Chinese may have invented gun powder, but the Europeans certainly put it to good use.

To think this is a minor festival for Barcelona???!!!

St Eulalia herself as a Gigante (Giant with a paper maché head).


Gigantes parades.
















Fireworks Parades.










Castellers (human towers).

Journey Started

After an easy trio of flights, with perfect left-side views of central Lisbon and the long white streak of the Pyrenees, we are in Barcelona. Although we didn't seem that tired we slept for over 14 hours last night; hoping that we aren't TOO rested and will sleep tonight. ;-)

Today we took a long walk from the El Born district up to Eixample and back. Our experiences today: signature Barcelona architecture, processions honoring St Eulalia , and nighttime light shows; will continue over the next few days. Stay tuned. We are just getting warmed up.

Eixample Architecture.


St Eulalia Festival procession in El Born.




Light show at El Born Cultural Center.

Spain, Morocco and Portugal

Tickets bought! We fly to Barcelona on February 8 and head west through southern Spain. Then after a loop in Morocco, it's up into Portugal and northern Spain before returning home in June.