Tarragona – Day 1

---

The two full days we are here, there is zero sightseeing planned. This section of our trip is devoted to researching if this is a potential place for retirement. From a cost-of-living perspective it is way high on the list. An apartment about the size of what we have in Providence (1250 sq ft) we can get one here for just over a third of what we pay now. The city is not overly bike friendly so that is a downside. It is also fairly hilly, which I think I might have already mentioned.

The day started with breakfast (fully included in the price of our room). It was quite the spread, probably in the top five of all hotel breakfasts we have had worldwide. Had pretty much everything you could want from pastries and pancakes to eggs and Spanish tortilla (it is an egg and potato dish). There were more types of meat than you could shake a stick at.

We were finally out the door and on our way by 11:00. As a way of getting around today, we purchased a hop on hop off train ticket. A little tourist train that made the loop around the city. It let us see some neighborhoods we might not otherwise get to and saved my feet (sort of). We are average a good 5 miles walking a day. We took the train to the top of the Rambla Nova, then walked down to the Mercardo. We planned to have lunch here, but there were only two places in the market one traditional tapa (no room at the inn) and the other sushi, I am not in Spain to have sushi. So, we just walked around the market then to Placa de la Font for lunch.

The market is nice, certainly nowhere near the caliber of the one in La Rochelle, but it would certainly be easy to shop there for nightly dinner. We spent about 20 minutes in the market. Interestingly, directly below the market was a supermarket. We zigzagged from the market to the square for lunch. We managed to pick the exact restaurant we ate lunch at 16 years ago. It hadn’t changed much, and the food was just as good. The temperature was mild, the sun was out, and they had shaded outside sitting.

One thing about Spain, it is one of the remaining country that allows smoking, even at a table, as long as it is outside. So, we were surrounded by smokers, but they were all pretty good about watching where their smoke went, so we didn’t really notice it.

We went with their fixe menu, which is really a misnomer since the only thing fixed about it is three courses, includes a drink (including wine) and bread. For each course you have at least 10 choices. It even started with a complimentary Copa de Cava. The bottles of Spanish Rose, were flowing at all the other tables (and these were the local on lunch break)

There was a lot to choose from and I had a hard time choosing between them. We did make a decision. Jerry started with the Melon gazpacho, and I had the House Cannelloni (stuffed with shredded Pork). The entrées were for Jerry Pork tenderloin in a Pedro Jimenz sauce. I had the Monkfish Casserole (it was not a casserole as we think) which is like a bouillabaisse. I did have to make extra sure that there were no clams or mussels. I am pretty sure that normally it would have come with that as in addition to the monkfish there were whole shrimp and calamari rings. It was all in a very flavorful romesco broth. I had an interesting dessert of thinly sliced pineapple with a raspberry sauce and coconut ice cream.

After lunch we continued to walk around then neighborhoods surrounding the Rambla Nova and went up a little into the old city area (very hilly). Nothing was really speaking to us as far as wanting to live there, but we have another entire day to search.

Now back in the room relaxing before dinner and enjoying the sea breeze and street noise from below.

El Posit

The night’s dinner was located in the Serrallo neighborhood, which is basically the port area. The harbor is full of yachts, and not Cabin Cruiser’s but full-on massive yachts, probably owned by Russian Oligarchs. Being a Tuesday night, there were only two of several restaurants open. Upon arrival we were a bit concerned as the interiors were quite bright, the first thing that enter our minds was 16 years ago in Cartagena Spain, dinner in an empty very bright restaurant, with so so food. Fortunately, this did not turn out to be the case; 1) the appearance of brightness was an illusion and 2) the place was packet, again a very large table of businesspeople.

Our reservation was at 8:30 and it was far enough away that we needed to take a cab. You know you’re really in Spain when people are still showing up for a dinner reservation at 10 pm. I did my best to only speak Spanish, but always end up going back and forth between English and Spanish. The menus were the dreaded QR code, so had to read the small print on the phones.

The menu was very intensely seafood, we are in the port area. It took a bit longer than normal to get through the menu, because there was a lot, and you can only see so much at a time on an iPhone. We naturally started with Dos Copa de Cava. The first round of food (which could have easily been the only round) was as follows:

* Ensalada Verde con Ventresca (Green salad with Tuna Belly)
* Patatas Bravas (best sauce of the trip and a huge portion)
* Bunuelos de Bacalao (Cod Fritters)
* Pan con Tomate
* Romesco (a side of sauce for the fritters)

All of the above were the dishes of the day. The portions were huge. In any restaurant in New York, or anywhere else back home, the portion would have been three Cod Fritters, and the price would be $18.50. Here we got 10 and the price was $13.78. The Romesco sauce was .95, $4 anywhere else.

We are stilling learning about Spanish White wines, so again we relied upon our server to recommend the wine. He choose a Rebels de Batea, which was a local Tarragona white. It was surprisingly good and went will with our entrées and it was 17 euros or about $18.50.

I was torn between the Andalusian style squid and the Bake Hake. I choose the latter. I should have gone with the squid, just because the potion on the Hake was enough for a family of four. The official version of the main course were for Jerry; Lenguado a la Planca (grilled sole with roasted vegetables and potatoes) and for me Merluza al horno con Almendras (baked hake encrusted with almonds served on top thinly sliced fried potatoes). My fish, while tasted good, was a bit dry, the potatoes were the best part. Jerry’s sole was very good. I couldn’t even finish my main, so there was definitely no dessert tonight.

That wraps up our first full day in Tarragona. Tomorrow a few more neighborhoods to explore.

---

Photos

Local Resident
If I didn't know better, this could be Tarragon