A map of Tarifa's location
by Bwana_Brown
By this stage of our 3-week Christmas/New Year get-away to Spain, we were past the two week mark and had already covered almost all of our 'orange' route shown on this map. We then awoke to rain for the first time, in Nerja on the Mediterranean Sea coast, with weather prospects not looking good for a few more days. That was when we made the decision to simply drive west to the start of the Atlantic coastline of Spain where the Strait of Gibraltar empties - if it was going to rain we might as well be where we really wanted to be!
It did not take much effort to retrace our steps as we cruised down the coast on Spain's beautiful divided toll highway system (there is another excellent highway beside it without tolls if you want to save money but not as much time), enabling us to reach Tarifa by about 4 PM. Like the Mediterranean, this part of Spain also has mountains fringing the coastline but the Atlantic is a much more unrelenting foe than the tamer Mediterranean Sea - making for some great weather memories! After enjoying Tarifa itself on our first night in town, we headed on up the coast, eventually reaching Vejer de la Frontera, south of Cadiz where we spent our second night before returning to Tarifa for another go-round. On that return trip, we took the time to detour toward the coast once more to take in the hippy-ish town of Bolonia and the next-door 2000-year old Roman ruins of Baelo Claudia. We enjoyed everything about this part of Spain - especially the fact that the weather began improving as soon as we arrived! The morning after our tour of Baelo Claudia found us facing New Years Eve with no place booked for accommodations and our time in Spain running out, so we headed east again to the Mediterranean coast where we were lucky to find a room in Torremolinos (just outside Malaga) at the hostal we had stayed in near the very beginning our our trip.
Guzmán el Bueno
by Beach_dog
This statue erected in commemoration of Alonso Pérez de Guzmán known as Guzman El Bueno, who successfully defended Tarifa against the muslins in 1294.
This statue is at Paseo de la Alameda in front of the harbour.
Horse riding
by Beach_dog
Near Punta Paloma at the Hurricane Hotel you can book day excursions, pony trekking, along the coast. I´m not sure of the cost, but it seems a pleasant way to spend a few hours in fantastic scenery.
Artifacts on display
by Bwana_Brown
Romans ended up ruling Spain in 206 BC as a by-product of wars with their main rival of Carthage, which was located across the Mediterranean Sea in North Africa. After conquering the native Iberian tribes in a battle near Seville, the Romans soon made the Iberian Peninsula one of their best colonies. In 61 BC the up and coming Julius Ceasar was promoted to Governor of this remote western and southern part of modern-day Spain, called Hispania Ulterior at the time. The Romans remained in control for about 700 years, until the Mongol invasion of Europe from the east eventually ended their run - but artifacts of their presence at Baelo Claudia still remain.
We had a look at some of them on display in the lower level of the VC, in this case two reclining marble statues holding wine-skins from which water once poured at a fountain. The one on the left is of Silenus laying on an animal skin (in Greek mythology, Silenus was a companion of the wine god Dionysus). It was quite interesting wandering around reading the small signs that explained what each of the 2000-year old artifacts on display were about, as well as the history of how Baelo Claudia was re-discovered.
The inevitable Theatre!
by Bwana_Brown
No self-respecting Roman town or city could exist without having a Theatre to entertain the local populace, and Baelo Claudia was no exception. Located at the northwest corner of the town, it was the last relic of this long gone civilization that we reached on our clock-wise exploration of the site.
It was still very impressive, even all these centuries later. With seven entrances and perched on a hillside as was the Roman custom, it had a great view out over the town and down to the Atlantic Ocean. One strange thing I learned about the Romans was that they called the entrances 'vomitoria' - must have been a very bad show the night the definitions were made! This was one of the better restored parts of the town, with work still continuing on the other areas. On Tuesday, December 30th we had the place almost to ourselves so I performed a short oratory for Sue from the stage while she filmed - after all, one does not get a chance to do that very often! In a nutshell, don't miss Tarifa or Baelo Claudia if you ever get the chance - it was so different from the Mediterranean shores!
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FRS wessel in Tarifa harbour
Sue said he had piercing blue eyes
A beautiful Ombu 'tree' graces the site
Marble statues once part of a fountain
