Mid-April, my study abroad program was finished. Grandma and Grandad came to visit and we rented a car to road trip around the north of Spain. We left Friday morning heading south to Tarragona. Tarragona, once known as Tarraco, was the capital city for the Romans in Spain. From Tarragona we headed west and stumbled upon Montblanc. Montblanc is a walled medieval city in Cataluña and a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was founded in 1163. Although there are no facts supporting it, it is supposedly the place where Saint George killed the dragon! Each year in April there is a two-week festival in celebration of this. We saw the medieval shield flags and decorations for the festival as we drove the car through the narrow medieval streets, just barely making it through in some extremely tight roads! From Montblanc we headed to a hotel to spend the night just outside of Zaragoza in a small town of Alfindén.
From Alfindén, we took the national roads to Pamplona, which is the site of the running of the bulls in July. We stayed on the national roads for most of the trip. On these roads we were able to see more of the countryside of Spain. The land began to change as we headed north: from dry and barren like the southwest of the US to green and mountainous as we neared the foothills of the Pyrenees. We drove to San Sebastian for our second night.
San Sebastian is located on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, It is known as one of the most beautiful beaches in Europe with its crescent-shaped shoreline, Bahía de La Concha. San Sebastian is located in the province of Basque, where one of the four official languages of Spain, Basque or Euskara is spoken. The Basque language is unique and its origin in Spain a mystery. It is a direct ancestor of an ancient language called Aquitanian, which was spoken in Western Europe tens of thousands of years ago, much earlier than Latin.
San Sebastian is also known as the birthplace of tapas with the oldest recorded mention of Tapas dating back to the 1870s. In La Parte Vieja or Old Town, there are many different tapa bars and in fact it is said to have more bars then any other quarter or neighborhood in the world.
Due to its location, practically in the foothills of the Pyrenees and 20km from France, the city has two mountains of its own. On top of Monte Urgull is a giant statue of Jesus with arms outstretched, similar to the one in Rio de Janeiro. On top of the second mountain, Monte Igelado, there is an aging amusement park that overlooks the city! Unfortunately, April is raining season for Spain, so our time spent in San Sebastian was overcast and wet.
The following morning, after mass in the Catedral del Buen Pastor, we left San Sebastion and drove west along the winding coast to a quaint fishing town, Getaria. There we walk around the seaport and town. We learned that two famous navigators came from this small town: Juan Sebastián Elcano and Admiral Miguel de Oquendo. Juan Sebastián Elcano was the first person to circumnavigate around the world and Admiral Miguel de Oquendo was second in command of the Spanish Armada. In Getaria we had a delicious lunch at Restaurante Kaia Kaipe before we began to drive south.
From Getaria we headed to Logroño for the night. Logroño is located in La Rioja. A region that well known for it’s vineyards and wine. The following morning we stopped along the road at La Bodegas Darien for a tour of the winery and some wine tasting!
We began to head back east stopping again in Zaragoza for lunch and ending our day in Alcañiz were we spent the night at the Parador de Alcañiz! The Parador de Alcañiz was a Castle of the Order of Calatrava. It was built on the la Cumbre Cerro Pui Pinos hilltop in the 12th-13th Century. This castle-convent was then converted to the seat of the Order of Calatrava in 1179. In 1410, Martin, King of Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia and Mallorca, died leaving no direct heir to the throne. The nobles of these regions gathered in this Castle to discuss the different claims in order to reach an agreement regarding the succession. The respective parliaments chose representatives, who met with the ambassadors of Castile, France and Sicily in this very castle. In 1412, the historic agreement, La Concordia was signed here. Through La Concordia Fernando I became King of Aragon.
With so much history preserved at the hotel, we spent all our time in Alcañiz there! We had an amazingly delicious dinner in medieval decorated dinner hall, with a huge fireplace at the end, and beautiful tapestries hanging from the walls! The following morning we took a tour of the oldest part of the hotel dating back to the 12th century! We also had breakfast in the breakfast room by a window that overlooked the town and the whole countryside in the distance!
Although we really wanted to stay, we continued on our route heading back towards Barcelona, with a little detour south to another walled city called Morella. Morella located in the province of Valencia has been a desired location for thousands of years dating back to the cavemen! Prehistoric remains and cave paintings are found in this area! Morella is a fortified town enclosed by 2.5km of defensive walls and built 1000 meters above sea level. The castle itself is built atop a rocky hilltop with views for thousands of miles. It first became an area of conflict during the Punic Wars between the Carthaginians and the Roman Empire. It was eventually romanized, but in 714 the Moors took the town naming in Maurela. In 1117 Snacho captured Morella only to have it recaptured by the Moors. It wasn’t until 1232 that conflict was finally subudued by Blasco de Alagon. The castle itself was actually used as a fortress in the 20th century during the Spanish Civil War and even after. Throughout history some of its illustrious visitors were San Vicente Ferrer, El Cid, Jaime I and Papa Luna!
Grandma, Grandad, and I stopped in La Iglesia de Santa María, which was constructed between 1265 and 1343. We then hiked to the top of the castle where we had views of the entire countryside! I also saw the prison that looked more like a dark cave in the rock mountain, where from 1460-61 Prince Charles of Viana, Kind of Navarre and heir of the Catalan-Aragon Crown was imprisoned!
From Morella we drove to Sant Carles de la Rápita where we stayed Tuesday night at a hotel right on the Mediterranean! The next day we headed north towards Barcelona. We stopped at Alde and picked up some Iberian ham and baguettes. We made bocadillas for our lunch picnic at on the beautiful beaches of L’Hospitalet de I’infant! After our brief stop we continued driving north and made it back to Barcelona for our final night!
Barça, Barça, Baaarça! 