Barcelona ... and peanut butter!

My colleague and friend Sra. Bills arrived in Barcelona today after her six-week trek across northern Spain on the Camino de Santiago trail. I met her at the airport this afternoon and we returned to the hostel to drop off her bags before heading out to see Barcelona. We visited the Ramblas (Barcelona's most famous pedestrian street) and walked down to the port. It was sunny and in the upper 70s again here today with a nice breeze blowing ... a perfect day! There were just as many people out and about this afternoon as yesterday. Barcelona is a very popular summer vacation spot, and I've seen just how busy it can be these past few days. We visited the Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria, a famous public market in Barcelona that is located on the Ramblas. The vendors sale fruit, meat, seafood, candy, flowers and more, and it was very busy as people were walking through and snapping pictures. We bought some fruit and a fruit smoothie and then walked around to see everything that was for sale. I'll post some pictures below so you can see just how colorful of a place this is. I visited this market when I was here in 1997, and my friends and I at the time couldn't believe that vendors were selling fruit, meat and seafood so out in the open. We had only seen grocery stores before, never a public market. This time, however, I couldn't wait to go back and walk through the maze of a market to see all the sights!

On our way back toward the hostel, we found a grocery store on the Ramblas and decided to go in to get some water and food for breakfast for the next few days. We stocked up on juices, fruit and some croissants but couldn't find any jam. We decided to visit the Corte Ingles (the big mall in Spain that has everything from groceries to computers) to see if we could find any there. I was also hoping to find some peanut butter, as I haven't had any in a couple of months.

Not only did we find some peanut butter, but we found Peter Pan, the brand that I always buy at home! We also bought some strawberry jam and bread and are now have enough breakfast food for our last six days here. I'll post a picture of our little pantry below. It's always fun to walk through grocery stores and markets in Spanish-speaking countries to see how many different products they have.

We had some Italian food for dinner and then returned to the hostel for the evening. We are planning to visit Sitges tomorrow, a city of 26,000 people located along the Mediterranean Sea. It's about a 45-minute train ride from Barcelona to Sitges, and the station is only about a two-minute walk from our hostel. Tomorrow will be a beach day. We visited Sitges in 1997 and I'm excited to go back again. I had to buy a towel today, too, as I didn't bring one with me since I knew I would only be at the beach for a couple of days at the most. It took some searching to find one, as the ones I saw at the Corte Ingles cost almost $25! I eventually found one at the grocery store for 9 euros, about $13!

I'll post some pictures from the beach tomorrow!

Chau!
--Justin

The Smurfs in Spanish!

Smoothies at  la Boqueria market.

Fruit at  la Boqueria market.

Meat and cheese at  la Boqueria market.

Peppers at  la Boqueria market.

More meat and cheese at  la Boqueria market.

Fish at  la Boqueria market.

Dulces at  la Boqueria market.

Our breakfast for the next few days ... and peanut butter!