Spain: Tarragona

On to Tarragona

We left Barcelona and made the one-hour-plus drive south to Tarragona on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.   Tarragona was the first Roman colony outside of Italy, making it an ancient city with many layers of history from Roman times to the Medieval period to the present day.  After checking into our very contemporary hotel overlooking the sea, we crossed the Roman road, today a main artery, walked a short distance, and then climbed 2 sets of stairs to the higher level of the old town. It was Saturday, and a farmers’ market was bustling with people and produce, while sidewalk cafes served patrons enjoying drinks or snacks.

Eating in Tarragona

Sidewalk dining in Tarragona

We meandered a bit looking for an enticing spot for some lunch.  Many of the cafes were already full so we snagged the last table at what turned out to be Home Run Food.  The patatas bravas were covered in melted cheese and dotted with slices of pepperoni (not the usual preparation), and the mixed croquettes were acceptable, while the chicken fingers with mustard dipping sauce were the best of the lot.  The Chief Penguin was skeptical at best about my ordering them, but he ate several!

In the evening, we wanted to come back to a small restaurant with a more varied menu. After our rigorous afternoon tour, we were ready to sit at a comfortable place.  The town plaza was crowded with folks awaiting a live music event, and nearby restaurants were busy or not yet open.  When we found our desired restaurant, it was closed! 

Tired and hungry, we walked back to the hotel to order food at the main floor bar.  It was minutes away from closing and did not serve any food.  The main restaurant didn’t open until 8:00 pm (it was about 7:15), so we were directed to the rooftop restaurant. Up to the 6th floor, outside on the pool terrace on a breezy night, we found a table and inquired about food.  Only drinks now, no food until 8:00 pm!  We ordered a glass of wine each and at 7:57, the waiter came to take our food order. 

Vegetables & hummus

The tempura veggies with olive hummus were particularly good, and the salad of cherry tomatoes and chunks of tomatoes with slices of tuna was a good concept which would have been better with truly ripe tomatoes.

Roman Tour

Roman amphitheater, Tarragona

We began our afternoon tour with the Roman amphitheater that is in front of and about at the same level as the beach.  This stadium with higher walls than exist today could accommodate 4,000 people. Our British guide was especially knowledgeable about this history and keen on explaining the various levels of warriors and their weaponry and how that played out in the fighting. A whole series of fights and gory deaths occurred in this space, some ordered by the emperor.  Today, it’s a peaceful empty space.

From the amphitheater, we walked back toward the city walls and explored the remains of the Circus where thousands of spectators watched chariot races. 

Example of tunnel leading to level of Circus remains

We also walked in the amazing vaults that were the foundation for part of the Roman Forum, a vast public square that still exists today and is where the farmers’ market and the evening entertainment took place.

Main facade of the Tarragona Cathedral

Up hill a bit more is the Cathedral of Tarragona, a medieval church that was built between the mid-12th century and 1331 A.D. This stunning architecture dominates Tarragona’s skyline and is a combination of Romanesque elements and Gothic ones.

Tarragona cathedral at night

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Spain: Barcelona Out & About

What We Saw

Today we spent more time exploring the sights of Barcelona from the main government buildings in Plaza San Jaime to remains of the Temple of Augustus to the Palau del La Musica Catalana to the Inglesia de Santa Maria Del Mar. In between, we managed to sandwich in some time in the Picasso Museum.

Here are some photos from the various stops we made.

Catalan Regional Government Building
Four columns of Roman Temple of Augustus (1st century BC)
Palau de la Musica Catalana

Palace of Catalan Music

The Palace of Catalan Music is another example of Modernism architecture which celebrates ceramic tiles, stained glass, and sculpture. Completed in 1908, the architect was Lluis Domenich i Montaner (1850-1923), designer of the Sant Pau Hospital.

Our excellent guide, one of the staff there, explained that the main hall was designed specifically for choirs, often called Orpheus choirs, and not for orchestras. Sculptures of muses with a variety of instruments and other figures surround the stage, and one sees just a few of the 4,000 pipes making up a massive organ. We got to hear a Handel piece which displayed the full tonal range of this instrument.

What is most striking is the inverted dome in the center of the ceiling, but also magnificent are the stained glass windows on the side walls, the butterfly-like wings on the ceiling, and the carved roses of red and white.

Stained glass inverted dome with choristers
Upper level seating showing off the stained glass windows & ceiling
Pink and white roses on the ceiling

Iglesia de Santa Maria del Mar

Church of Santa Maria

Built in just 88 years between 1329 and 1383, thanks to the donations of ordinary people, the Church of Santa Maria is a stunning example of the Gothic style. Twice damaged by earthquake and fire, it has a minimum of decoration which shows off the singular beauty of its columns and ceiling. And its columns are spaced wider than any other Gothic church in Europe, a distance of forty-three feet from column center to column center.

Sanctuary, Church of Santa Maria
Black Madonna, church of Santa Maria

Other Sights

The Picasso Museum was amazing and gave us a real sense of Picasso’s creativity from a very early age with paintings from his teenage years before he went to Paris to study. There, he was considered so advanced that he entered at the last year of the course. From his years in Barcelona doing landscapes to portraits in Paris to his Blue and Pink Periods to his return to Cubism in 1957 (it was totally dismissed when presented 40 years earlier), it’s a fascinating journey of one artist’s growth and development. Alas, I didn’t take any photos, not sure they were even allowed.

We ended this outing with a quick glimpse of El Fossar de les Moreres, a square built over a cemetery where Catalans were buried after the War of the Spanish Succession in 1714. There’s a red torch sculpture, an eternal flame.

Memorial Square

So much history in this city over so many centuries from being a Roman colony to the Middle Ages and its later growth as a maritime and commercial power, the repression of the Spanish Civil War and Franco’s rule to democratic government and cultural renaissance from 1975 to the present. In our few days here, the Chief Penguin and I only scratched the surface of all there is to see and do. But, we stayed in the Old Town, the Gothic Quarter, and walking those narrow streets between ancient walls was an ever present reminder of all that has gone on here.

Note: Photos from JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Spain: Barcelona: Eating & Walking

Meals

Lunch at Patron

Octopus with potato

Yesterday with our guide, we had a more typical noontime meal. We sampled these tapas: octopus chunks with potato, shrimps in garlic oil (a dish we’ve enjoyed in the past), thin slices of fried eggplant, crispy like potato chips, and tomato bread.

Crispy eggplant slices

Everything was good, especially the eggplant.

Seafood paella for 2!

Then seafood paella, sized for 2 people, was delivered to the table. It was huge and by then, none of us had much room left for more than a few forkfuls. We dined at 1:00 pm, but most Spaniards have a big meal sometime between 2:00 and 4:00 pm, and then something light (tapas, perhaps) at 10:00 or 11:00 pm.

Dinner at our hotel

After that sizable lunch, we ordered more sparingly last evening. In addition to some wonderfully toothsome bread, we tried mini brioches stuffed with crabmeat, the cheese plate, and little potato tacos. These were tiny potato chips stuffed with shrimp like a real taco.

Shrimp tacos

Both the brioches and the tacos were scrumptious! We also sampled the orange cake which was just okay.

Lunch at Bar Mono

Art in Bar Mono

Today we took a more relaxed approach to life after our big Gaudi excursion yesterday. This meant a later start and a short walk before returning to this tapas restaurant we had liked on our first day. Patatas bravas, beef croquettes, and the lovely fried artichoke flowers gave us enough sustenance for the afternoon.

From La Rambla to the Port

After lunch, walking to the port was our goal. La Rambla, a long boulevard, divides the Old Town in half with the middle portion being pedestrians only. Currently, La Rambla is being improved and renovated so there are torn up areas, construction vehicles and fenced off areas. Nonetheless, it’s still fun to pass by flower stands, news vendors, and many open-air cafes.

On our way, we briefly detoured down a side street to the magnificent Placa Reial or Royal Square. It was teeming with people, tourists and others, as we sat by the fountain and enjoyed gazing at the palm trees and the mustard facade of the buildings.

Placa Reial

Port Vell at the end of La Rambla is the port for leisure and is just beyond the old customs house. Large boats are anchored and alongside is a pier of contemporary design containing shops and a restaurant.

Pier at Port Vell

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Spain: Barcelona: A Gaudi Day

WHAT WE DID

Gaudi bust at La Pedrera

We spent the day with Javier, a wonderful Barcelona guide who was personable, knowledgeable. and fun to be with. He’s been a guide for several decades and knows a lot about Antonio Gaudi and his masterpieces in Barcelona, especially Sagrada Familia. With him, we visited three sites: Hospital Sant Pau, La Pedrera (Casa Mila), and that beautiful cathedral, Sagrada Familia. The whole day was fascinating.

HOSPITAL COMPLEX

View of roofs of hospital complex showing elaborate touches

Hospital Sant Pau is really a set of buildings founded about 600 years ago in what was then woodland. It was a medieval welfare house and then became a modern hospital complex. Designed by Louis Domenech i Montaner, not Gaudi, it’s an example of modernism or, as the style is called elsewhere, Art Nouveau. In 1997, UNESCO designated it a World Heritage Site due to its “architectural uniqueness and artistic beauty.”

Hospital waiting area
Ceiling decoration
Large open ward

Today, there are nine historic buildings, several of which one can tour. A modern hospital exists on the back side of the site. Some of the buildings and interiors use ceramics and other elements that are similar to some of what one sees in Gaudi’s work.

LA PEDRERA

Exterior of La Pedrera, note the rooftop

La Pedrera is an apartment building that Gaudi designed between 1905 to 1912. It was built for the Mila couple, hence its alternate name of Casa Mila. It too is a World Heritage Site as of 1984. Here, we didn’t go into any of the apartments, but spent time seeing Gaudi’s unique arches, studying the facade models, and then exploring the unusual outcroppings on the rooftop.

Gaudi’s interleaved arches
Up among the rooftop sculptures

SAGRADA FAMILIA

One view of several faces of Sagrada Familia

Sagrada Familia was started in 1882 and after more than 140 years is still not complete. Gaudi lived from 1852 to 1926 when almost 74, he was hit by a streetcar and died ten days later in the poor people’s hospital. He was disheveled poorly dressed, and without identification, initially languished in that hospital unattended from several days.

Architects who followed Gaudi added towers and sculptures to the original building. Before the pandemic, completion was slated for 2026, but with work halted then, the timeline is now 2032. The current architect, the ninth, is Jordi Fauli. Today, the cathedral has fourteen towers, and attracts more tourists to Spain and Portugal than the Prado Museum in Madrid.

Tree-like column rising to the ceiling

Gaudi loved curves and angles, and supposedly was asked when studying architecture, couldn’t he draw any straight lines. His work includes themes from nature: trees, plants, and flowers, and this cathedral is unlike any other I’ve ever seen. The columns look like trees while the colors of the stained glass are marvelously rich and bright, especially on a sunny day.

Light, columns, & color
View of several clusters of stained glass windows

Javier, our guide, worked at the cathedral some years ago, got to know the architects, and was able to pump them for details about the building and Gaudi’s and their intents. The Chief Penguin and I visited it on out own more than ten years ago, but we learned more about the facades and the interior on this visit. It remains a spectacular sight and definitely a must for anyone visiting Barcelona!

Note: Photos by JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)