Today was a lovely day of rest and relaxation. After a leisurely breakfast we went for a hike along the coast. There were a lot of people out exploring since today is Good Friday and a holiday.

For dinner we ate in the Parador restaurant

The sunrise over the Mediterranean from our hotel room I’m Tarragona was lovely!

We went out for a walk and had coffee and pastries on Rambla Nova.

We packed up and checked out but before we left Tarragona we went to the Roman Aqueduct in a park about a ten minutes drive from our hotel. The aqueduct is in a great hiking park, a short walk from the parking lot. I don’t think I have ever walked across a Roman Aqueduct before today.

The path across the aqueduct

There was a lot of stop and go traffic on our drive today. As a result I think today was our longest drive in Spain.

The town of Begur and the Parador of Aiguablava are on the coast north of Barcelona. This will probably be the last Parador we visit this year. We will be here two nights and then on Sunday we go to Lyon, France.

The Parador is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful hotels we have ever stayed at. Our room is on the top floor with glass walls overlooking the Mediterranean. I think I’d be happy here even if I never left the room.

We ate dinner in the parador restaurant.

Before we left El Saler this morning we went for a walk on the beach. It was beautiful and we found several pieces of what looked like pottery.

Then we drove for about three hours north along the Mediterranean to Tarragona. The parents of some good friends of my daughter’s family live in Tarragona. We met up with them and they showed us around Tarragona.

We saw so much with them and learned so much about Tarragona. It was wonderful. And then, to make it even better, today as a part of the Semana Santa (Holy Week) celebrations there was a big procession through the street from the Church of Saint John the Baptist. We had a perfect place to watch near the beginning.

Then we had wonderful tapas for dinner at a restaurant right next to the Cathedral.

One other really interesting thing we learned is that Tarragona is well known for its human towers (Castellas).

We had such a good time in Tarragona. It makes me want to come back again.

This morning before we left the Monasterio de Piedra we took a Monastery tour. It was in Spanish so I didn’t learn a lot but it was still imteresting.

I said yesterday that the building had recently become a hotel, but I learned that actually it was in 1835 that the monastic community ended. The buildings were converted to a hotel in the mid 1800s.

We finished the tour, checked out and around noon headed southeast about three hours to the Parador de El Saler, our 94th Parador!! We are now on the Mediterranean for the first time on this trip. The parador is also associated with a golf course.

We ate dinner in the Parador bar. We shared seafood paella.

This morning before we left Alcalá we went out for a walk so we could see the town without thousands of people. There were still people out and about but things were much quieter. It is a beautiful town!

We drove the two and a half hours to Monasterio de Piedra partly on motorway and partly on back roads.

The Monastery we are staying in was fairly recently turned into a hotel and a big nature park.

After we checked in and rested for a while we took a hike in the park. The monastery is on the edge of a gorge that has a river running through it. The grounds have been landscaped and the two and a half mile hike was wonderful.