Jen & I have been talking about a day trip from Barcelona for a few weeks, and luckily today worked out so that we could go to Tarragona. The city is located about an hour away from Barcelona, and is most known for being the most important trans-alpine city of the Roman Empire for nearly 400 years. Emperor Augustus reigned from Tarragona for a time. It was very cool to see so many Roman ruins nestled alongside a typical Spanish city.
We took the local train, for a cost of 7.50 euros each way, and arrived in the city around noon. We didn't have a map or a plan, but the city was easy enough to figure out thanks to a ton of signposts and guides. The view of the ocean was also really cool. Since it was a somewhat stormy day, the waves were particularly rough and interesting. Here are a few shots of the city.
Of course the reason we were there was to see Roman ruins! Other than stopping by the famous town cathedral, we stayed true to course and saw the 1st-century Roman Circus Maximus, the Praetorium (rumored to be the birthplace of Pontius Pilate!?), the Casa Castellarnau, and the Roman Ampitheater.
We managed to do all of this plus a nice long lunch and were back on the train to Barcelona by 4:30. Like I said, this made for a very easy and quick day trip. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around El Born buying wine - not a bad end to the day. It is very rainy in Barcelona, so I'm planning on staying in and enjoying that wine for the evening! Tomorrow I hope to get a large chunk of schoolwork done, and then Saturday the Longhorn group is taking a road trip to Figueres and Cadeques! It's so much fun to see more of Spain.
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