Day 10 Tarragona

We left the group early, they went to the airport and we went to Hertz rent a car.  Driving in Madrid during the morning rush was quite a ride.... Sophie was even telling me I had to be more aggressive.  We headed due east to the Mediterranean coast.  The hotel people in Madrid directed us to Tarragona and told us to take the freeway road. We opted for the two lane more direct route, which was extremely picturesque but much slower. 

On the route we saw fields/crops of Sunflowers.  They were all dried up and I would love to return (on a bicycle trip) when they are in full bloom.  Other crops we saw were corn, Olive groves, and a huge watermelon field.  The soil in tilled fields was reddish.  We passed by the quaint little villages, several monasteries and mailed 2 postcards in a small village....hopefully they will arrive!

We didn't make it to the coast by sunset, but the drive was beautiful during sunset.  Tarragona is a bigger city than I would have liked, we were tired, hungry and just wanted a warm plate of Paella.  It took a bit to get thru town but fortunately the hotel signs were helpful.  We arrived at the hotel and the area was nearly deserted, we are right near the beach but no restaurants.  We drove back into the city, and had a horrible time with parking and finding a restaurant.  When I asked a local, she quickly pointed towards McDonalds..... of course that was NOT an option, so she directed us to the old town area and we did find a place for tapas.

We returned to our hotel ~10p, jumped in bed and I woke up @ 9a this morning.....refreshed.  I went for a nice run on the beach boardwalk.  The beach area is nice for a run because there are mostly nice homes, no hotels or stinky restaurants..... so now I totally appreciate Tarragona.

Today we are off to Barcelona after we check out the local ancient Roman ruins here.....and maybe a bit of beach action!