Tarragona, October 26

Arriving in Tarragona at 8:30 pm and tired from packing in as many last adventures in Barcelona as possible, everyone decides to stay in the hotel and go to bed early. But the food and companionship are so fine everyone stays downstairs until midnight. Sarah B shows off some toys she's taking home for her children, and quite a few "children at heart" enjoy playing with them for a while!








The next morning the bus drops us downtown for the day. Trying to decide which lovely street to wander along first: Sarah S, Julian, Sarah B, Xiaohan, Emily, Tony, Kevork.












Some people go to the beginning of the wide pedestrian park that runs down the middle of the city's central avenue, where a statue honours the region's unusual favourite sport of competitive human pyramids, then stroll through the busy flea market that occupies much of the park. 












Others go straight down the avenue to the "mirador" over the Mediterranean. That's Marc and Nurhan's choice. The sea is incredibly beautiful, and in spite of the fall weather that has city residents as well as the rest of us wearing jackets, some intrepid souls go down to the beach for a swim.

Tarragona is known for its well-preserved Roman sites, including an amphitheatre right next to the sea, a stadium up the hill in the old city, and a hilltop fort with an impressive tower still standing.










The old city's picturesque streets wind between buildings dating from the Middle Ages, and in some places are themselves a special Tarragona art form, paved in mosaic patterns made from small stones.

The Teatro Metropol was built in 1907 by Josep Juhol, a disciple of Gaudi's,

whose influence is visible in curves, irregular angles and tiled surfaces.

After the encores demanded by the audience, as in every city on the tour, we pop out the stage door and down just half a block to a restaurant with terrific pizzas and a kind staff willing to accommodate 18 people at 11 pm. EunA, Tony and Calum will join Marc and Nurhan's toast in a minute, along with Mig and Ani and others farther down...
Xiaohan, Emily, Praise and Julia sit beneath a pair of concert-goers who have chosen the same restaurant.






When the "Rustico" Sarah B ordered arrives, it's a bit intimidating! Andras stands by while Sarah discovers that her ring of pizza contains mainly a big tunnel of hot air inflating the upper crust above a normal amount of filling. 






After a super meal, our most helpful driver Pablo stops by with the bus to take us back to the hotel, a little farther from the centre here than in our other cities.