Tarragona

Tarragona: A southern city in Catalonia, was formerly the capital of the Hispanic Roman Empire (Tarraco). We went under the guise of seeing Roman ruins.. and we DID see Roman ruins- UNESCO World Heritage (yes more to my checklist!!!) Roman ruins. But other than the Roman ruins in Tarragona, it felt as though it was a bit of a “filler” trip.

All the tours were in Spanish. I loved this, I hated this. I felt my comprehension improving, but my mind would wander and it would be hard for me to pull it back.

What we saw:

Tarragona: Roman Amphitheatre

Roman Circus- underground tunnel for carriage races. COOL!

MNAT Museum

Old City walls

Tarragona Cathedral

And that was Tarragona. You could walk around it a few times in a day. All 460+ students stayed in Tarragona at night, divided in 4 hotels. We had alternating itineraries, and the groups were based on Spanish classes so the classes could “bond.” On the other 2 days we took trips outside of Tarragona.

We visited Torres Winery, very well known wine in Spain. We took a quick tram ride around the vineyard and offered a very modest sample. Very modest. The administrators were there…

We saw Medol, the old quarry site for the Romans. This was off of a highway, and we had to walk through a gas station parking lot to see it, and hence my jaw dropped when I saw it was flanked with a World Heritage marker (check!) The site has a central “needle” that shows how deep the Romans had dug into the rock. It is impressive to think about but the site was rather…. Bland.

On the other day we visited Poblet and ANOTHER UNESCO World Heritage Monastery, dedicated to incorporating the natural landscape. We hiked after the long monastery tour. We also visited Montblanc where legend has it St. Jordi slayed a dragon.

I feel I’m losing my fans getting into the nitty gritty of Tarragona so I will recount one of the best Tarragona surprises.

Complimentary breakfast was provided by the hotel. And I knew this going into the trip, and beforehand, it really wasn’t something I was looking forward too. Spanish people believe in coffee for breakfast, occasionally some bread, so I assumed the hotel breakfast would be skimpy. This was, without a doubt, best breakfast spread I’ve ever encountered! All different pastries, eggs made any which way, every type of breakfast meat, 7 bread choices, countless cheese options, every fruit, fish, yogurts, nuts… you name it. It was probably there. I made pan con tomaste both days and plopped an egg and cheese on top. Delish!

IES fed us well overall. We had 2 traditional lunches- one day of Paella on the beach and one day of Calcots in the monastery. Calcots are like long onions. Everyone is given a bib when entering. When eating calcots you peel the layers of the long onion, dip them in the special ramesco sauce, and hold it high above your head like a long piece of spaghetti. Very entertaining.