Blogpost for Thursday, 24th September 2009

La Merce
Today marks the start of Spain's arguably biggest festival, spanning till Sunday with tons of activities, music and dance performances littering the city.  Being a holiday for the Academy too, I tramped down to Barcelona centre with Kiko and Robin after lunch, to check out the festivities.  Here is a photojournal (of sorts) of the day, kicking off with lunch at the Academy.

Lunch consisted of fried salmon fillet and paella--the typically Spanish dish of fried rice with condiments meat condiments--usually of seafood origin.  This had the cheaper, chicken substitute.

When we got to Barcelona centre, we were greeted by a host of colourful vending stalls, selling almost everything from Hello Kitty balloons to snacks and fizz drinks.  To the left of the picture you can see the beginnings of one of the many massive stages the city council has set up for performances this entire weekend.  Exciting stuff!

Picking balloons. There were tons of families walking about or sitting down, all soaking up the sun.

One of the many typical, colourful vendor stalls in the Square.

They even sold birdfeed for the pigeons...

There were tons of people lining the streets at different parts of the city centre, craning their necks to catch the passing processions.  I thought these three ladies here were especially funny.  Uno, dos, tres!  On a separate note, it seems that Spain does have a rather large elderly population.  They fill the buses, streets, everywhere!

Another old man enjoying the parade... :)

Robin--my Australian friend with a fetish for pistachio nuts, insisted on bringing a big glass jug of them along.  "What forrrr?? We won't be eating it!!"  I wailed.  (I actually didn't want to carry it.)  It found its way into my bag, and I lugged the whole lot through the city.  Here he is, caught nibbling on them during the parade.  I nibbled on some too.  Fine, they were good.

Some random cafe I chanced upon on one of the smaller streets, that I MUST go back and visit!

The adjourning inner courtyard to the cafe.
Took my breath away.

Gelare shopping.  Tons of stalls littering the city--all, surprisingly, with different distinct tastes.

Strawberry at one doesn't taste the same as strawberry at another.

It makes me happy, nonetheless :)

La Colmena--one of Barcelona's oldest confectionaries. 
It was tempting not to buy any chocs, but I saw EUR53/kg choc there... -Choak!-

 

I thought of my very fat, cute, 3.5 month old sausage-looking nephew Brucie when I saw this. The bar in contrast was old, quaint, rather run down, but cool nonetheless. Something like Yet Con at Purvis Street, back home.

Just look at the drawers hanging off the wall!  Love it!

Kiko's and Robin's pose are cool too.  Added with the random passerby and the stall owner's, their bodies plot a sort of guiding linear disjoint amidst the semi-chaos.  Interesting.

Pity it's slightly blurred, though.