Wednesday, May 20, 2015

We Return to Spain, the Road to Tarragona


Wednesday, 20 May, 2015:

DAY XVI OF THE CIRCUMNAVIGATION
OF THE IBERIAN PENINSULA

We were on the road early (for us) today as we said adieu to Le-Grau-du-Roi in particular and France in general.

Our next stop was going to be the sunny Mediterranean city of Tarragona, Spain.

A Spanish city, chock full of Roman ruins, is just what we needed. 

We needed a few last FRENCH
croissants and pain au chocolates too!

 Let the lush scenery begin again

 We are near Perpignan
at the bottom of this map of France

 Today's first goal city was Barcelona.
It is Barcelone in French.

 FOLLOW THAT TRUCK!

We should be back in La Hacienda on Thursday afternoon.

Just another French village

Never been to Andora

Maybe another spontaneous detour was called for on this glorious day.

Last rest stop in France
  
HOLA ESPAÑA!!!

Spain has random castles too

Last chance for Andorra

We agreed that the extra four hours of driving was not necessary at this late point of the Circumnavigation.

Laurie agreed 100%. Me, not so much.

We pushed onward to our goal city. 

Tarragona it was -- almost there!

Our hotel is about a two minute
walk from the Med

Sant Jordi in Catalan
is St. George in English

 My mother would LOVE this hotel

The view from our balcony

Since it was a bit late for the beach, we opted to drive into Tarragona's city center/Roman ruins.

 The Romans founded the city of
Tarraco here in 218 B.C.

In 25 B.C., Augustus made this city of over 200,00 people (more than its current population) the capital of all of his new Tarraconensis province which roughly covered all of what is now Spain.

Not graffiti from Roman times
  
New wall, Roman wall
  
 Tarragona's University

 Love going uphill

Not Roman old but still
old nonetheless

Classic French car in Spain

Tarragona's spectacular Cathedral

The Cathedral is a mixture of Romanesque and Gothic styles and is incredibly huge inside.

Old arches

What went here back in the day?

 Nice window

 Centurions of Christianity

Too bad it wasn't raining

 Oversized Holy Water font

 Sparkling Window

Sant Jordi in action

 Interesting Cross

Gold is good

 Ancient Mural

Me . . .

. . . and my shadow!!!

Weaving and Stained Glass
  
Mary, Jesus and Mary Magdalene

Adoring the baby Jesus and the BVM

 An unknown but surely
important bishop

 Lion on guard with . . .

 . . . an Angel as backup

 How do you feel about slaying demons?

 Oh, I see . . .

Rapt attention

The Annunciation

No guess on this one

GREAT ceiling!!!

YIKES!!!

Holy Mother of . . .

A bit ostentatious for me

Even the Cathedral's floor
was outstanding!

 Above the Main Altar

 How long did this take to build?

 Classic Dome

The Assumption

That is Laurie in the pink sweater.
I told you that this Cathedral
was HUGE!!!

More ornate floor patterns

Truly a magnificent structure. We were both glad that we entered as the exterior really gave no clue as to the wonders inside the Cathedral.

The flag symbolizing many Catalans'
desire to separate from Spain

Reminiscent of many of the murals
on buildings in Lyon, France

 People actually now live inside
the Roman walls, from the looks of it

Really, really old

 Late lunch break

Such a relaxing little spot. Luck favored us one more time.

I like the painted poles that help
keep cars away from pedestrians

Comte is one of my favorite French cheeses

Ben Todd would smile at this

Tarragona is a colorful city

 Ancient spigots

The old Roman Marketplace

 Part of a long forgotten building
on the Fòrum Provincial

 Typical narrow streets

Chocolate is any language is GOOD!

Another of Laurie's doors

The sky was amazingly blue today

 Andy, Jenn and Kevin live in Las Vegas

Nevada that is, not this bar in Tarragona.

Leaving the old Roman Quarter

Jesus is always BIG in Spain

 The Med looked great
from the Roman walls

 Meanwhile, we went back to our hotel
in order to . . .

. . . check out our nearby beach

Another remarkable day on the road. The Circumnavigation will be complete tomorrow.


Final Circumnavigation Tour Stop: Murcia, Spain

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