to Tarragona

:: April 2 - 4 ::

On the Mediterranean. 

Tarragona was the first Roman city on the Iberian peninsula, founded as a colony (Tarraco) in 218 BC. 

Roman ruins, 

medieval core, 

beaches, 

pedestrian promenades, 

modern-within-the-old--

this walkable city center has them all.

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A square near our apartment has a large piece of the old Roman Forum-the same square where people were dancing on Sunday afternoon in the sunshine. 

A lovely, quiet archeological promenade follows part of the Roman and medieval wall that remains. 

We walked among the extensive ruins of the Roman amphitheater,  built facing the Mediterranean Sea in 1 BC.

and followed a path along the craggy coast to a nearby beach. 

We walked through the Castellarnau House/Museum, built in the 15th century. It was the residence of an influential family over generations.

In front of the Cathedral, built incorporating a Roman temple wall,  a crowd was cheering the creation of a "castell", a human tower. This is a local tradition dating back to the 18th century. We were slightly reassured to see the broad base of people supporting this precarious human structure of five levels.

Because he found the name attractive, Bob stopped for a beautiful cappuccino and pastry at a nearby coffee house 

April 3, we celebrated Kristin's birthday. 

The day began with watching University of North Carolina beat Duke in the semifinals of the NCAA basketball tournament. 

This was but another continuation of a big rivalry. Kristin and Benny had watched them play when they were UNC graduate students. 

Later, Kristin and Benny picked up the Calcots they ordered the day before. A calcot is an onion, similar to a leek and slightly larger than a green onion. Prepared in a special way, it is a popular appetizer in the region. Its steps of preparation and form of eating had been carefully explained to us by Pedro at the castle in Poblet the day before. 

Since you wanted to know, this is a simplified version: the calcots are roasted until charred on the outside, then wrapped in brown paper; steam completes the cooking.

To eat them we removed the charred exterior, dipped the calcot in Romesco sauce, held it high, and ate it as illustrated. If slightly messy, the sweet flavor is worth it. Champagne and toasts to Kristin  accompanied our calcot feast.

On Monday, on our way out of town headed to Barcelona, we stopped to see the remaining expanse of a Roman aqueduct.

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