Wonderful paella at a seaside restaurant in Sitges
The wolf suckling Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome
The tower at Sitges above the square where people gather to eat their grapes at midnight
The Wall at Tarragona
Today we left Barcelona and proceeded south with our guide and driver (both named Carlos) arranged through Jose at Pepito Tours. Our drive of approximately 120 km took us to our first stop, the city of Tarragona. Tarragona was known as Tarraco by the Romans and was one of the two major Roman cities on the Iberian Peninsula, the other being Merida in the southern area.
Tarragona was built on a rocky hill next to the sea with an impressive wall that surrounded the city. Most of the wall no longer exists but we saw a portion which was added to in medieval times and which is being preserved today. A beautiful model of the city as it would have been in the 1st century AD has been created. At the highest point was the Temple of Augustus. On that site the Cathedral of Tarragona was built later in the 13th century. The city also included a large provincial forum, a circus for chariot races, a “colosseum” for games, an amphitheater and a local forum. The colosseum is fairly intact and portions of the circus are still visible. Tarragona was awarded UNESCO World Heritage status in 2000 and as we walked through the old city there were many banners proclaiming the 10th anniversary of that event. One of the places we visited was reportedly the Emperor's Palace and at the door was a beautiful sculpture of Romulus and Remus being suckled by a wolf.
From Tarragona we drove back up the coast on a road which in Roman times was called the Via Augustus. Along the way we stopped to see the Triumph Arch built to honor the emperor. Augustus is reported to have wintered in the area following one of his campaigns.
Our next stop was the town of Sitges which is about 35 km southwest of Barcelona. It’s famous for its film festival , its beaches and its artsy character. Many people from Barcelona have a place here which they use in the summer. Today because it was past the summer season, we were among the few tourists around. There is a lovely promenade along the shore with a very nice beach.
We stopped for lunch at a restaurant along the promenade and had a lovely salad, paella and bread with tomato, a Catalan tradition. It was all delicious! After lunch we strolled through the old town. We learned that it was here in Sitges that the Spanish tradition of eating 12 grapes on the 12 strokes of the clock at midnight on New Year’s Eve began. Evidently one year there was a bumper crop of grapes, more than could even be used for wine. Someone suggested keeping some of the grapes and eating them on New Years Eve for luck. My family lived in Spain when I was growing up and we adopted the Spanish tradition which we still do even now. I had no idea where it came from until today. The blue and white tower in the picture is a symbol of Sitges and the colors of blue and white are all over the city. Houses have blue shutters and many buildings have a thin blue line painted along their foundations.
For anyone going to the Barcelona area who wants to see something a little different, I highly recommend a trip down the coast to Tarragona and Sitges. We had a wonderful day!
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