Adventures of David and Paul: Tourist Day in Tarragona

Our full "tourist" day in Tarragona fell on Constitution Day (December 6). Since it was a holiday, some of the attractions were only open in the morning. We planned accordingly, and after breakfast at our hotel we started with the UNESCO world heritage sites shortly after they opened. The huge Roman amphitheater was right across the street from our hotel, and in fact we had a great view of it from our balcony. It was built around the year 100, and later became abandoned before a Visigoth church and then basilica were added, and then finally it was used as a convent and then a prison. The remains of all of these structures can still be (sorta) seen.

The next stop, included on our ticket, was the remains of the roman circus just across the street. Much of the "old city" of Tarragona is built on top of the circus, but you can still visit some of the remains including a couple of long tunnels. It's now a whole archeological complex that also includes the remains of another basilica, museum exhibits, and part of the medieval city wall and tower. There were good views across the city from the top of the tower.

An exhibit showing how it looked when a basilica was built in it.

Overview of the remains of the amphitheater.

A long tunnel that was part of the circus. Fans walked through to get to their seats.

The arches and roof of the former basilica, on top of the circus.

View from the top of the former basilica.

Next we continued on toward the city walls, which are also part of the UNESCO site. On the way we stopped at the model of Tarraco, which we actually thought was the entrance to the walls. The model was great for seeing how the Roman city was laid out, and how the current "old city" was built right on top of it. From there we walked around the corner to the actual entrance to the city walls. You can't go in them, but as you walk along them there are signs describing how they were adapted and re-used by many different empires and leaders. We also met a cute little cat we named Manchego.

Little Augustus and Booberella.

A cool model of the old Roman city.

A large portion of the city walls are intact, as they were added to and reinforced over the millennia.

David found a friend!

There was still one more site included in our ticket - the local forum, which was about a 20 minute walk from the exit of the walls area. There's not too much left here, but there are a few columns and foundations remaining. After the forum we walked toward the port. We had wanted to visit the National Archaeological Museum of Tarragona, but it's closed for renovation. Luckily, they took some of their best artifacts and put them on display in a temporary museum in the port. The port itself was interesting too, with a lot of people strolling and exercising on the promenade alongside the marinas.

The forum of Tarraco.

Outdoor escalator - there's a big altitude different between the port and the central city.

Random street art. Paul-achu, I choose you!

Nautical Homer for the win.

The museum is housed in one of the port buildings.

The temporary archeology exhibit.

Great bicycle infrastructure!

We walked back up to the old city, and had lunch at shifu ramen. It was not great (the tonkatsu did not taste right, but the miso ramen was decent) but atmosphere was good, with an over the top anime and Osaka subway theme. It's definitely been interesting trying various global cuisines in Spain, but it makes us appreciate the incredibly diversity in food of the USA.

Our next stop was right up the street: the cathedral. It has a large number of museum exhibits, and a pleasant cloister with orange trees, turtles in the fountain, and a resident cat or two. Overall a very impressive cathedral that shouldn't be missed.

Ramen Shifu is themed like the Osaka subway.

Before - yummy ramen.

After - cute bowls!

One of the many quaint intersections in the center of Tarragona.

A baroque elephant decoration in the cathedral.

The interior, with the impressive organ and dome.

Walking along the cloisters.

The views from the cloister courtyard were amazing.

A cat sitting in the shadows.

Oranges and stone.

One of the many museum exhibits in the cathedral.

Next we made a quick stop for ice cream at Bico de Xeado, a fancy Spanish ice cream chain. The arroz con leche flavor was delicious, and we also tried a unique fig and cheese flavor. We walked back and watched the first half of Spain world cup game outside on plaça de la font. There were lots of people, especially teenagers, watching from the restaurants and bars on the square. We caught the second half of the game back at our hotel, with Spain unfortunately losing in penalties. That night we went for a stroll and picked up Empanadas at Tio Bogotes and doner at Kebab Torraco, for a low-key dinner. Paul just wanted french fries from the kebab place, but they didn't quite get our order and gave us two sandwiches.

Ready for the world cup game!

A drink on the square.

The rooftop pool of our hotel.

David on our hotel rooftop with sweeping views.

Ha - message received emotionless pool rule board.

It's always a good time for empanadas.

We had a great time in Tarragona. It's not a major tourist destination like Barcelona or Madrid, but it's worth a visit for the roman ruins, quaint old town, and sea views. One thing we noticed both here and in Barcelona what that there was English-language Christmas music everywhere. We were surprised there aren't more Spanish holiday songs.

The next day (David's birthday!) was our travel day to Valencia, but our train didn't leave until 1PM, so we had a nice relaxing morning. We started with breakfast at the hotel, which was included each day because we booked online, and was really nice. The ground floor of our hotel had a large seating area and they set up a breakfast buffet each morning. It was a nice way to start each day in Tarragona. After eating we took a little stroll around town, stopping at the nearby Mediterranean balcony for some views, and then the remains of the Roman theatre. We popped in a couple of stores, including a small anime store, Flying Tiger, and the central market.