We then drove to pick Dayana up and headed over to Cambrils for a sumptuous seafood late lunch by the sea. Pretty late such that we ended lunch almost 6pm!
The seafood spread at Miramar Restaurant was amazing, with a complimentary starter that included a broth made using mantis prawns, a prawn item and a pintxo.
Followed by
Sea snails
Tuna Carpaccio - apparently the tunas are farmed not far from the coast
Prawns - a specific breed of this region
Spicy Romesco Rice with Tuna
From Cambrils we drove to Salou, with a long coast line stretching between the 2, which continues on all the way towards Tarragona. We settled at Yayo Morabito Chiringuito - Chiringuito means bar on the beach.8
And we were joined by some familiar faces (José and Frank) and new ones.
With a glass of mojito in hand on the beach, it feels like Cuba once again.
It was too cold to swim though. However, it was nice and sunny out and we stayed till the sun was about to set, as it started getting chilly, which was already about 8.30pm.
Rodolfo sent me to my hotel located along Plaça de la Font, right in the centre of the city, on a square which also housed the City Hall building, and we made plans to tour around Tarragona the next day (Easter Monday), which is still a public holiday in the area.
Tarraco is the ancient name of the current city of Tarragona. It was the oldest Roman settlement on the Iberian Peninsula, dating as far back as 5th century BC. It became the capital of the Roman province of Hispania Citerior during the period of the Roman Republic, and of Hispania Tarraconensis following the latter's creation during the Roman Empire.
For this reason, there are a lot of roman ruins around the city.
Tarraco had 3 public spaces for holding spectator events back in the day - Theatre Romano (built 1st century BC), the Circus (1st AD) and the Amphitheatre (2nd AD).
There's also the Roman Wall and the Fortí de Sant Jordi.
Besides the roman influences, other noteworthy spots include the Mercado (there was also a street market when I was there) and the Catedral Basílica Metropolitana i Primada de Santa Tecla de Tarragona, with the outer statues still very well preserved.
Nice views can also be had from the Balcó del Mediterrani.
Tarragona is also famous for human towers. Once every 2 years on the 1st weekend of October, a 2 day human tower building event and contest among 30 of the best castells groups (colles) in Catalunya tales place. There is even a statue of it on Rambla, the widest pedestrian boulevard in Tarragona.
On Easter Monday, Rodolfo also included me to join him at his friend's house for BBQ, where I also got to catch up with Patrizia and José Luis again. There were probably a total of about 14 of us at his friend's house, most which Rodolfo knew from his tennis club. We were a riot, with lunch lasting till past 7!
I also got to try some local liqueur which I had never tried before, as well as learn some traditions of the region eg. These cakes are typical for Easter and the Easter Chocolate Egg needs to be cracked with the head!
It was also nice of Frank to make time out of his work day to have lunch with me.
Grateful to have friends in places to spend time together with and after not having seen each other for years. Till the next time we meet again!
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