The Ramblas
28th December. The Ramblas is Barcelona’s most famous street that used to link the harbour to the old town. It is lined with cafes, shops and restaurants and also the famous Boqueria food market and the Liceu Opera House. The main part of the street through the middle is for pedestrians, largely tourists, and the traffic gets a narrow strip down each side of it. The middle section also has artists displaying their works for sale or drawing a person’s portrait while they wait, newspaper kiosks selling postcards, key rings and fridge magnets, and stalls selling jewellery, leather goods, hats, scarves, and other items. The jewellery is unique and usually made by the stall-holder. There are rabbits, goldfish and canaries for sale. Every few metres, human statues come alive when you walk near or put money in the bucket. Some of them are very clever, using facial epressions to tell a story.
We went into the Boqueria food market – a crush of people all looking, some buying . Every food one could imagine is for sale. Large hams hang barely above my head, cheeses by the hundreds, and many types of fruits and vegetables that I have never seen before.