Tarragona - Arrabassada beach

We spent most of the days on the Arrabassada beach, taking the bus there and back each morning and evening. We'd buy fruit, baguettes and water at the shops on the way (after our morning coffee and croissant at the Marti coffee shop), then hop on the bus.

Tarragona - The beach from martin clinton on Vimeo.

Tarragona - Santa Tecla Fireworks

The highlight of Santa Tecla is the Correfoc, where a procession of fireworks is literally walked through the city, firing sparks into the crowd. A lot of people follow these processions wearing hats and stand underneath the showers of sparks, jumping up and down.

Tarragona - santa tecla from martin clinton on Vimeo.

Tarragona - Bike race and Flamenco

We discovered that Tarragona was celebrating its Santa Tecla fiesta, and events that day started with a bike race round the city centre, as well as a demonstration of flamenco dancing. Santa Tecla is a big event in town.

Tarragona - Bike race, flamenco from martin clinton on Vimeo.

Tarragona

We arrived in Tarragona, which was about an hour and a quarter south of Barcelona on the train. Its a fairly quiet city, with a lot of very old Roman features, including an amphitheatre. Its a very nice place to go to for a laid back, relaxing time, with some very nice beaches, which are sadly not that easily accessible due to the huge drop down from the town. Luckily there are local buses that take you there.

Tarragona from martin clinton on Vimeo.

Barcelona - Merce 2011: City Hall

On Saturday, the highlight was down by the City Hall, where at first there was a procession by the giants (large models of people carried through town). In the evening there was a light and sound projection onto City Hall which overlaid the structure itself and made the structure appear to move and change shape, it was very impressive!

Barcelona - merce 2011 city hall from martin clinton on Vimeo.

Barcelona - Merce 2011: Band, Ballet and Fireworks

During the Merce festival, it seems there is something going on EVERYWHERE. We walked through Parque de la Ciutadela and saw a spoof band doing strange Rolling Stones covers, a fairground that seemed to be made from old kitchen parts and a version of Swan Lake, ON THE LAKE. We ended up down by the sea front to watch a fireworks display.

Barcelona - merce 2011 band, ballet and fireworks from martin clinton on Vimeo.

Barcelona - Walking around

We spent some time going round the sights of Barcelona, and as we were in town the same week as the annual Merce festival, it was busy everywhere!

Barcelona - Walking around from martin clinton on Vimeo.