Things to do in Tarragona Aragon and Sitges
There are very few undiscovered cities in Europe, but Tarragona may well be one of them. Founded by Iberian tribes, it later came under the control of the Romans, who named it Tarraco. A combination of excavation and restoration has revealed just how important the ancient city was to the Roman Empire for Over 600 years. Julius Caesar, Augustus, and Hadrian lived here for a time; legend has it that Pontius Pilate was born here. The streets of the Parte Alta (Old Quarter, literally, the high area) still run where the Roman streets once lay; yet on top of all this, there is a pleasant, large hill city with medieval areas, long avenues, and views out over the ocean.
The Passeig Arqueologic (Archaeological Promenade) is a walk of about half a mile through the history of Tarragona, around the ancient walls enclosing the highest part of the town. At the base of the walls are the huge Cyclopean boulders laid down by Iberian tribes in the 6th century BC; above these are the Roman walls built in the 3rd century BC, topped by a later Roman stone layer, then a medieval layer, and then English-built ramparts added during the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1713).
To interpret all this, a personal multilingual guide is a good investment, as pieces of Roman history crop up in the shadows of medieval houses and modern apartment blocks. The Museu Arqueologic on Plaza del Rei exhibits mosaics, capitals, statues, ancient household utensils, and other local finds.
Next to the museum is the Pretori Roma (Roman Praetorium), a 2,000-year-old fortress presumed to have been Pontius Pilate's birthplace. Just below, built into the hillside by the beach, is the Roman amphitheater, where excavations have unearthed the remains of what is believed to be a 2nd or 3rd century Christian church. Just above the ruins is the Balcon del Mediterraneo (Balcony of the Mediterranean), a cliffside promenade offering excellent views of the sea.
A flight of Roman steps leads up to the fortress-like Catedral de Tarragona in the heart of the Parte Alta, built on the site of the former Temple of Jupiter, which became a mosque under Moorish rule. Built in the 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries, with later additions, the cathedral is a mix of Romanesque, Gothic, Plateresque, and Churrigueresque architecture (the last a particularly ornate style of Baroque associated with a dynasty of architects named Churriguera). It's open daily.
Roman ruins in Tarragona
There are two splendid Roman remains on the outskirts of town. The Pont de les Ferreres aqueduct (or Pont del Diable - Devil's Bridge), some 200 feet long and located 2.5 miles (4 km) from the center via N240, is a twot iered example of Roman engineering from Emperor Trajan's day. The Roda de Bara (Bara's Arch), a 2nd century triumphal arch, is located 12.5 miles (20 km) north of Tarragona via A7.
Things to see in Sitges
A typical Mediterranean seaside resort town, it is popular and classy, lively and cultured, pretty and occasionallytacky. The Iong sandy beach of La Ribera is backed by a promenade lined with flowers and palm trees, cafes and restaurants, with a church at the north end. The Casco Antiguo (Old Quarter) is made up of little lanes and some magnificent old villas, homes of americanos (also known as indianos). Spaniards who made their fortune a century ago in Cuba and elsewhere in Latin America, then retired here.
Gay Sitges
Although the town has expanded over the years, there are few apartment blocks and no towering hotels. To the north, beyond the village of La Punta, a 450-berth yacht harbor at Aiguadol attracts the nautical fraternity. Sitges also has developed a big reputation as a resort for gay men and women, but the town attracts a wide spectrum of visitors singles, couples, and families from all over Europe (as well as the occasional yanqui). In fact, summer weekends are very crowded, especially in late July and August. Consider a visit during the week or out of season (October through May), which can be very pleasant.
Car hire Sitges
To fully discover the sights and sounds of Sitges, hire a car from Barcelona or Girona Airport and take your time to explore this diverse region. Car hire in Sitges can be booked before you fly and cheap car hire at Barcelona and Girona Airports can be found easily online.
Sitges Museums
Sitges has three surprisingly good museums. Museu Cau Ferrat has one of Europe's finest collections of artistic ironwork along with tiled walls and paintings by El Greco and works by two of the four cats referred to in the name of the famous Barcelona eatery Els Quatre Gats: the early 20th century Catalan painter Miquel Utrillo, and Santiago Rusinyol, the writer-artist who was a prime contributor to modernisme in Barcelona and elsewhere in Catalonia; the museum is housed in Rusinyol's former studio.
Next door, and functioning as an annex, is the Museu Maricel de Mar, with sculptures, glass, mosaics, and drawings from the Middle Ages through the Baroque period. The Museu Romantic (Carrer Sant Gaudenci, also known as Casa Llopis, is an 18th-century mansion sumptuously furnished with neoclassical antiques and paintings; there's a doll collection on the upper floor.
Sitges Festivals
During the town's Festa de Corpus Christi celebration (this year on June 15), intricately patterned floral carpets made of over 600,000 carnations cover the cobbled streets. A splendid car rally, featuring vintage automobiles, is held on the first weekend of March.
What to do in Aragon
Since there is no coast in Aragon, many visitors Spaniards included dismiss this region in Spain's northeast between Catalonia and Navarre as a place to be passed through quickly on the way to the mountains or the sea. At one time, however, Aragon was a kingdom that could not be ignored. From the time it was founded in 1035, it systematically enlarged both its territory and its sphere of influence. The adjacent kingdom of Navarre was an early ally, and astute matchmaking forged alliances with the powerful Berenguer family, bringing in the potent House of Barcelona and the region of Catalonia. The biggest matchmaking coup of all was the marriage of King Ferdinand II of Aragon to Queen Isabella of Castile and Leon. Under their rule, Spain completed the Reconquista (centuries long reconquest of the peninsula from the Moors) and extended its reach to the western
hemisphere.
The weather in Aragon
Aragon enjoys the dubious distinction of having Spain's worst climate. Summers are unbearably hot and winters can be extremely bitter. But visitors in late spring or early autumn will have few complaints about the weather, and lots to see and do. There are vineyards and wineries southeast of Zaragoza that welcome visitors and encourage wine tasting, and local fiestas offer a glimpse at the distinctive traditions of the region. Local women don their traditional embroidered aprons and pretty ankle laced slippers for the festivities, and folks dance the odd, jiglike jota.
In September, especially in the southernmost stretches, bull fever hits. Encierros, or the running of bulls through town streets into an enclosure, are certainly not unique to Pamplona. Small local variations occur near harvest-time as part of the observance of patron saints' feast days in the villages close to Teruel.
The route outlined below begins in Pamplona and enters the old kingdom of Aragon at the base of the Pyrenees, then goes south through a dreamscape of strange mounds and past a strategic castle on its way to Huesca. As it continues south, fields give way to wide flats near Zaragoza (traditionally known in English as Saragossa), the only sizable city in this sparsely populated region.
Still farther to the southwest, past Calatayud, stark badlands hold such surprises as the Monasterio de Piedra, a monastery that looks like a colorful mirage in these raw, red hills. Once past a valley of orchards and vineyards, brick towers in geometric Mudejar patterns rise above the arid scrub near Daroca and Teruel, at Aragon's southern extreme (Mudejar refers to the Moorish-influenced Gothic style of the mudejares, Moors who were allowed to remain living under Christian rule). From here, the traveler can opt to head for Valencia, on the coast, or turn inland, toward Cuenca and Madrid. Either way, a detour to the medieval town of Albarracin, guarding the heights to the west, is recommended.
The Passeig Arqueologic (Archaeological Promenade) is a walk of about half a mile through the history of Tarragona, around the ancient walls enclosing the highest part of the town. At the base of the walls are the huge Cyclopean boulders laid down by Iberian tribes in the 6th century BC; above these are the Roman walls built in the 3rd century BC, topped by a later Roman stone layer, then a medieval layer, and then English-built ramparts added during the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1713).
To interpret all this, a personal multilingual guide is a good investment, as pieces of Roman history crop up in the shadows of medieval houses and modern apartment blocks. The Museu Arqueologic on Plaza del Rei exhibits mosaics, capitals, statues, ancient household utensils, and other local finds.
Next to the museum is the Pretori Roma (Roman Praetorium), a 2,000-year-old fortress presumed to have been Pontius Pilate's birthplace. Just below, built into the hillside by the beach, is the Roman amphitheater, where excavations have unearthed the remains of what is believed to be a 2nd or 3rd century Christian church. Just above the ruins is the Balcon del Mediterraneo (Balcony of the Mediterranean), a cliffside promenade offering excellent views of the sea.
A flight of Roman steps leads up to the fortress-like Catedral de Tarragona in the heart of the Parte Alta, built on the site of the former Temple of Jupiter, which became a mosque under Moorish rule. Built in the 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries, with later additions, the cathedral is a mix of Romanesque, Gothic, Plateresque, and Churrigueresque architecture (the last a particularly ornate style of Baroque associated with a dynasty of architects named Churriguera). It's open daily.
Roman ruins in Tarragona
There are two splendid Roman remains on the outskirts of town. The Pont de les Ferreres aqueduct (or Pont del Diable - Devil's Bridge), some 200 feet long and located 2.5 miles (4 km) from the center via N240, is a twot iered example of Roman engineering from Emperor Trajan's day. The Roda de Bara (Bara's Arch), a 2nd century triumphal arch, is located 12.5 miles (20 km) north of Tarragona via A7.
Things to see in Sitges
A typical Mediterranean seaside resort town, it is popular and classy, lively and cultured, pretty and occasionallytacky. The Iong sandy beach of La Ribera is backed by a promenade lined with flowers and palm trees, cafes and restaurants, with a church at the north end. The Casco Antiguo (Old Quarter) is made up of little lanes and some magnificent old villas, homes of americanos (also known as indianos). Spaniards who made their fortune a century ago in Cuba and elsewhere in Latin America, then retired here.
Gay Sitges
Although the town has expanded over the years, there are few apartment blocks and no towering hotels. To the north, beyond the village of La Punta, a 450-berth yacht harbor at Aiguadol attracts the nautical fraternity. Sitges also has developed a big reputation as a resort for gay men and women, but the town attracts a wide spectrum of visitors singles, couples, and families from all over Europe (as well as the occasional yanqui). In fact, summer weekends are very crowded, especially in late July and August. Consider a visit during the week or out of season (October through May), which can be very pleasant.
Car hire Sitges
To fully discover the sights and sounds of Sitges, hire a car from Barcelona or Girona Airport and take your time to explore this diverse region. Car hire in Sitges can be booked before you fly and cheap car hire at Barcelona and Girona Airports can be found easily online.
Sitges Museums
Sitges has three surprisingly good museums. Museu Cau Ferrat has one of Europe's finest collections of artistic ironwork along with tiled walls and paintings by El Greco and works by two of the four cats referred to in the name of the famous Barcelona eatery Els Quatre Gats: the early 20th century Catalan painter Miquel Utrillo, and Santiago Rusinyol, the writer-artist who was a prime contributor to modernisme in Barcelona and elsewhere in Catalonia; the museum is housed in Rusinyol's former studio.
Next door, and functioning as an annex, is the Museu Maricel de Mar, with sculptures, glass, mosaics, and drawings from the Middle Ages through the Baroque period. The Museu Romantic (Carrer Sant Gaudenci, also known as Casa Llopis, is an 18th-century mansion sumptuously furnished with neoclassical antiques and paintings; there's a doll collection on the upper floor.
Sitges Festivals
During the town's Festa de Corpus Christi celebration (this year on June 15), intricately patterned floral carpets made of over 600,000 carnations cover the cobbled streets. A splendid car rally, featuring vintage automobiles, is held on the first weekend of March.
What to do in Aragon
Since there is no coast in Aragon, many visitors Spaniards included dismiss this region in Spain's northeast between Catalonia and Navarre as a place to be passed through quickly on the way to the mountains or the sea. At one time, however, Aragon was a kingdom that could not be ignored. From the time it was founded in 1035, it systematically enlarged both its territory and its sphere of influence. The adjacent kingdom of Navarre was an early ally, and astute matchmaking forged alliances with the powerful Berenguer family, bringing in the potent House of Barcelona and the region of Catalonia. The biggest matchmaking coup of all was the marriage of King Ferdinand II of Aragon to Queen Isabella of Castile and Leon. Under their rule, Spain completed the Reconquista (centuries long reconquest of the peninsula from the Moors) and extended its reach to the western
hemisphere.
The weather in Aragon
Aragon enjoys the dubious distinction of having Spain's worst climate. Summers are unbearably hot and winters can be extremely bitter. But visitors in late spring or early autumn will have few complaints about the weather, and lots to see and do. There are vineyards and wineries southeast of Zaragoza that welcome visitors and encourage wine tasting, and local fiestas offer a glimpse at the distinctive traditions of the region. Local women don their traditional embroidered aprons and pretty ankle laced slippers for the festivities, and folks dance the odd, jiglike jota.
In September, especially in the southernmost stretches, bull fever hits. Encierros, or the running of bulls through town streets into an enclosure, are certainly not unique to Pamplona. Small local variations occur near harvest-time as part of the observance of patron saints' feast days in the villages close to Teruel.
The route outlined below begins in Pamplona and enters the old kingdom of Aragon at the base of the Pyrenees, then goes south through a dreamscape of strange mounds and past a strategic castle on its way to Huesca. As it continues south, fields give way to wide flats near Zaragoza (traditionally known in English as Saragossa), the only sizable city in this sparsely populated region.
Still farther to the southwest, past Calatayud, stark badlands hold such surprises as the Monasterio de Piedra, a monastery that looks like a colorful mirage in these raw, red hills. Once past a valley of orchards and vineyards, brick towers in geometric Mudejar patterns rise above the arid scrub near Daroca and Teruel, at Aragon's southern extreme (Mudejar refers to the Moorish-influenced Gothic style of the mudejares, Moors who were allowed to remain living under Christian rule). From here, the traveler can opt to head for Valencia, on the coast, or turn inland, toward Cuenca and Madrid. Either way, a detour to the medieval town of Albarracin, guarding the heights to the west, is recommended.
Labels: Car hire Sitges, Sitges Festivals, What to do in Aragon
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