Barcelona Old Quarter and Market

One of the narrow "pass throughs"

Two things really interest me when I go to a new place:  the market and the antique stores.  Friday morning we spent getting lost in the old quarter of the city, marveling at the produce inside the city market and peering in shop windows full of old artwork, dishes, and religious regalia.  I finally "got" it--that Barcelonan obsession with light and air.  There is precious little of either at ground level in the old quarter, so I saw why those two qualities were prized in all the modern buildings that started going up in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  They finally knocked down the walls that enclosed the old city and began to spread out and up.  The narrow, dark streets were  charming, for a short, touristy period of time, but how difficult it must have been to actually live there, especially when the Industrial Revolution brought dozens of factories to the neighborhood.  It must have been a choking, horrible, hazardous place to live.  It's too bad that it took getting lost in that maze of streets to open my eyes to the rationale behind the Modernist movement, but at least I learned.

Dark alleywas--but safe

yearning for the light

Slo--children at play

A new outfit for Bernie?

Lorraine suggested we get tickets for the English guide tour of the Palau--the concert hall of Catalan Music.  We had some time to fritter away before our designated time, so we took to the narrow, winding and definitely not grid-like streets of old Barcelona to see what we might encounter.  We headed off in the general direction of the market and eventually emerged from the shadowed neighborhood into the light of the market street. 

Me as a greengroceress?

Jewels of the season

The market sports a colorful roof and had plenty of foot traffic out front.  We made our way there and went in. 

Tempted by the veggies?

Now I am no rube when it comes to markets--Carcassonne has one three times a week, so I am used to piles of fresh fruits and vegetables gleaming like loose gems in a jewelry store.  Maybe it was the lighting here, but the produce had a special shine to it.  It was artfully arranged, purposely to draw your eyes and your shopping basket.  Thankfully we were both simply "tourists," and didn't have real use for fresh produce.  But we did treat ourselves to some vacuum packed Serrano ham.  There were fish stalls that were so clean that they barely even smelled of the sea itself, much less fish!  The items were a pleasure to look at, and one of the women fishmongers was singing a Catalan folksong as she cut up and prepared her fish for presentation.

Cones of snacks--ham in the background

Duck?  Goose? Quail? What kind of egg would you like today?

We  found some walk-away snacks--crisped ham with either veggies or breadsticks in paper cones. Tempting.  There were spices, and exotic, Spanish and Catalan desserts.   I was thrilled to see locals lining up to get their sausage and breads.  I always like to see where people-- who live in a place and do not have to eat all their meals out, like tourists do--buy their food. 

Freshest of the fresh

Salts and spices

I splurged on some vacuum packed Serrano ham and I was inspired to buy a new paella pan--just the right size for maybe two enormous or three generous servings.  Now I will have to adapt my recipe. 

The blonde in the center sang Catalan folksong while she worked

Before we knew it, it was time to head to the Music Palace......another gem.