Smiths on tour at last: 12th Apr CARRETERA PLATJA LLARGA (TARRAGONA)

Monday 16 April 2012

12th Apr CARRETERA PLATJA LLARGA (TARRAGONA)

We woke up to a cold, grey day so decided on day of sightseeing in Tarragona; Tarragona has a lot of history, with impressive Roman remains (including an amphitheatre and aqueduct) and a medieval town. The first problem was getting there; it was only 3 – 4 miles from where we were camping so cycling was the obvious solution, except it was 3 – 4 miles along a busy road. Brett and I haven’t had many disagreements whilst we’ve been travelling and when we do they’re often because I won’t cycle somewhere (like today!). I got my first bike when I was 21, and haven’t got the confidence of someone who learnt to ride as a child – I don’t like busy roads or cycling through pedestrians, I’m not good at starting off or stopping (or steering for that matter!), basically I like quiet country roads – Brett can’t understand my reluctance, especially when driving isn’t an easy option, he thinks I should face my fears.

I admit that the drive into and through Tarragona was a nightmare, and yes, I do feel guilty – but we managed to park and armed with Sat Nav walked into town, of course we arrived at siesta time and most shops were shut.

Beautiful pebble mosaic pavements

After lunch we made our way to the first place we wanted to visit, a merchant’s house with a Roman courtyard

Merchant's house

it was 3.15€ entrance fee which was fine until we realised that if we bought a day ticket for 10.50€ that would give us entrance to all the attractions we wanted to visit – unfortunately we hadn’t given ourselves enough time to do everything today (and use the day ticket to full advantage) so we’ve decided to return within the next couple of days (at least we know where to park and how to get there now!); hopefully the weather will have improved too.

While we were there we did take a few pictures of doors and their furniture.