Ramblin'

Today's venture included part of La Rambla, a tourist haven that goes through the old city and down to the port. It's Canal Street, Michigan Avenue, Duval Street, Fisherman's Wharf, Pike Place, the National Mall, and the Third Avenue Promenade. The main road has a median where random street performers try to distract you while their friends pick your pockets, and the side sections have their blind artisans, beggars, dumpster-diving operatic singers, beggars, players of annoying instruments, and beggars. All along the street are restaurants, gelato shops, bakeries, cafés, tourist stores...it never stops.

The side sections contain the tourist attractions, museums, etc. of course, they were built about 15 centuries ago or more, and they were designed to keep enemies out, so finding the front door to these places is pretty confusing. Luckily, the street names are posted on the sides of buildings, except when they're not. And sometimes it isn't a street name but a plaza name. Or someone's mother's name. At some point you just give up and wander, which is more fun anyway. One minute you're on a tiny sidewalk that you wouldn't go near in Atlanta, and the next you're in the middle of a giant square, surrounded by a church, a palace, and another ten thousand restaurants.

But the best place is the Boqueria market as recommended by my friend Becky. The huge displays of fruit at one stand are matched by major shelves of smoothies at the next, and chocolate-covered fruits on a stick at the next. Then there are the spices, mushrooms, peppers, meats, fish, candied fruits, nuts, vegetables, and little cafés. Not one spot of icky can be found anywhere on the perfect tomatoes. They're like super-model tomatoes.

Of course, the meat stands draw an eleven-year-old boy like a magnet attracts iron filings. Even I was fascinated by these snowy-looking folds of something that looked like octopus, except wait, an octopus isn't white. It was tripe.  That was near a huge pile of tongues, followed by sheep's heads with the eyeballs intact. I admit that I stopped looking when the food looked back.

And I didn't go near the fish stalls. I love fish and fishy friends, but a couple of metric tons of them in one place can be a little overpowering. Cook those suckers, and I will be back.

I will go back down there when Cassie is feeling a little more time-swapped, and we will take more time to poke around. And maybe get some of those amazing chocolate strawberries.