We had heard about a festival in the city of Tarragona celebrating its Roman heritage. The event is called “Tarraco Viva”, and we just missed it in 2011. So we planned our trip to Spain in 2012 so that we could pop north to Tarragona right after we arrived. It was fun, with all sorts of exhibits and exhibitions on various aspects of the Roman era. Most events had “sold out” before we got there. But near the ticket booth we got a tip from a festival worker who although Spanish, spoke English. Well, not only did he speak English, but he did so with an uncanny British accent* combined with a strange gesture of touching his face near his eye as he confided the “secret” that you could actually position yourself quite close to most events without getting a ticket.

There were demonstrations of various crafts, exhibitions of medical devices of the Roman era, and of course, Roman soldiers. Tarragona has a variety of visible remains of that era, including an amphitheater right next to the sea. During the festival mock gladiator fights were staged there.

The town itself is lovely and if you ever get a chance to visit, do it!

* (Although it is the British variant of English typically taught to Spaniards, I have never before encountered anyone who had assimilated that accent!)