Mercat de la Boqueria

Here is today's snapshot, a new series of candid photos taken with my pocket camera during the trip to Barcelona, Spain in April 2008. Full set, which is updated daily can be found on Flickr. 

One of the things I love about the old Europe is the culture of shopping for fresh food almost on a daily basis. Unless you live on the outskirts of the city you will not find big box grocery supermarkets, most people still shop there in local bakeries, butcher shops and of course large markets. In Barcelona, each of barrios has at least one market where you can get everything you need to make a tasty home cooked meal and people love to shop there. The most famous such market place is Mercat de la Boqueria - a remarkable place to visit. It dates to 1217 when tables were installed near the old door of the city to sell meat. Located just off La Rambla this picture perfect market is very popular both with tourists and locals, there seems to be hundreds of stalls selling everything from fresh seafood (in the centre of it), meats to eggs, cheeses and veggies. When you go inside you become extremely hungry even if you just had a big lunch elsewhere! Most the merchants close to the entrance are a bit pricey due to their location, but as you go inside deeper and deeper you notice most prices becoming reasonable. You can actually have a freshly made meal right at one of the many on-site eateries. Besides that you can also pick some fresh fruit if you want to take to the hotel or have a freshly made juice. I was lucky to be just a couple of blocks from Mercat de la Boqueria so I ended up there almost on a daily basis, drawn in by the smell and colours of the stalls inside. They have awesome web site where you can read more about this market, its history and see the actual map of the layout.