My favorite place thus far! On our way back from Valencia we stopped here to tour the city and get a traditional Spanish lunch. Tarragona is a city that was first inhabited by the Romans. The Romans built a the city of Tarragona inside these tall brick walls known as the "Roman Walls" (how original) to protect the Roman soldiers. Inside the Roman Walls are palaces, the Circus (chariot racing stadium) and various plazas. After the fall of the Romans, the city was built on top of and if visited today this is what you mainly see. Arcs of the Circus are actually built into homes and many of the original walls are built into the modern day buildings. Although the old city was built on top of, it is possible for people to go underground and see the Circus. I thought that this was the coolest thing! We were under the city and you could clearly recreate how the stadium looked while you were down there! There are also parts of the old city that are uncovered that you do not need to go underground to look at.
The layout of Tarragona (you can see the Roman Walls built around a part of the city)
The Roman Walls and the path we took around the city
Going underground to see the Circus
A part of the Circus underground
A part of the Circus above ground
Outside of the Roman Walls is the Roman Amphitheater which was served as a place of entertainment, sacrifice and to house a church. This is much like what you would see in the Gladiator. It was situated on the hill so that it only required 1/2 of the architecture work as usual. Its location is what made it really cool for me because you were able to walk down into the Amphitheater and it just so happened to overlook the Mediterranean Sea! Absolutely gorgeous on a nice sunny day!
The view that I fell in love with
Looking down into the amphitheater
On top of the amphitheater
After our walking tour we went for a traditional Spanish lunch where we were able to try calcotadas which are a type of onion that is grilled and dipped in salsa and served as a first plate much like an appetizer. They are a been there done that kind of thing...it was very cool to try them but they were extremely messy and not worth all the effort I had to put into them! The other food was sub-par nothing to write home about...Spanish cuisine isn't the best of Europe so I literally have been living off of their fresh fruit and peanut M & Ms lol such a health nut!
Literally had to wear bibs so that the salsa wouldn't stain our clothes...so attractive
Our mess we made trying to eat the Calcotadas
How you are supposed to eat the Calcotada
Overall the trip was a great experience! I made so many new friends and got a mini history lesson along the way! I would totally recommend going to Tarragona out of all the places I visited during this weekend trip, make sure to go on a nice sunny day because lets be honest, everything is better with a little sunshine! Definitely try calcotadas...maybe you will enjoy them but even if you don't it is all about the experience.
Buenosnoches <3
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