Barcelona Day 3: Monday

Market day! After our great success at the Rialto Market in Venice (Christine bought an enormous fish which we managed to cook), we were looking forward to strolling through the La Boqueria market on La Rambla.

We got there at a good time after all the restaurant customers had left and before the HUGE swarms of tourists came. We first walked through the whole covered market to get an idea of what produce looked good for the day.

Picture courtesy of vgm8383

The fruit stalls are especially smart when it comes to making money. They make specialty blends of fruit juice and sell them as smoothies lined up in colorful rows of bright pinks, greens, purples and yellows. I purchased two avocados and a kilo of apricots (what was I thinking? One kilo of apricots was 1,49 euros!!!!). Christine got a pineapple slice and some bananas. We settled on two red peppers, feta cheese and finally a small fish (which this time we had gutted and beheaded).

After a coffee at the famous Pinotxo Cafe where the lovable and grandfatherly Juanito served Christine, we took the Metro back to enjoy our spoils only to realize we had no bread. A quick run down to the neighborhood market and with a rustic baguette in hand we could enjoy our simple yet terribly tasty meal:
Slices of rustic baguette smothered in mashed avocado and sprinkled with feta cheese. Christine had tomatoes on hers as well.

One of the more enjoyable things about Spanish culture is the relaxed, laid back feeling personified by the siesta. Needless to say after all our market shopping we had one. At about 3, I headed out again, this time to do some clothes and shoe shopping. Barcelona is definitely known for its style and unfortunately the current style is not quite my cup of tea.

No joke, hammer pants are very much in style with EVERYONE even Spanish grandmas. Despite it all, I did find two nice tops that have a Spanish flare, but of all the places I looked there were a total of 3 pairs of shoes in my size and one was a pair of slippers. So with my two cute tops I went back to the apartment to rest and then met up with Christine at La Crema Canela, one of many restaurants in Barcelona that are part of a chain that offers nice atmosphere and great food for a good price. The white on white interior was refreshing after walking around the grimy yet historic Barri Gothic.

Our combined bill was only 34 euros and that was for:
1 bottle of water
1 bottle of white wine
1 cheese risotto with rocket (mine!)
1 seared fish with roasted artichoke heart and spinach puree(Christine's)

1 chocolate sponge cake with raspberry sauce and mascapone cheese (Christine's)
1 toffee and almond cake in walnut creme (mine!)

We came at a good time too...right after it opened for evening service at 8PM. By the time we left around 9:45, there were a queue outside.

Now to sleep off my starch induced coma (hooray for carbohydrates!) because tomorrow is day 1 of museums!