Autumn has arrived in Catalunya. It is a bit too cold to head out on my bike any earlier than 10am, so I do my daily food shopping before my ride rather than after.
My first stop is usually Mercat del Lleo. This is the big indoor and outdoor market with the freshest food imaginable.
There are several options for everything--meat, chicken, veggies, fruit. You don't usually skip around, but instead you buy from the same people on a daily basis. It is always nice because you develop a nice relationship with everyone and they know how you like things.
This is my normal butcher. Actually, there was a different butcher in this spot for many years, but she retired last spring and this butcher took her place, so I ended up going to them by default, but I like them because everything comes from within the Girona region.
My chicken lady sells chicken, duck, rabbit, eggs, and honey. I have been visiting her since 2011, so she knows what I usually buy. Butchers and chicken people will prepare things exactly how you want them--sliced, cubed, etc. It saves a lot of time in the kitchen, that is for sure.
A lovely array of fruits and vegetables:
I have learned more about cooking with fish since living here in Catalunya. The fish mongers are awesome and prep the fish for you and tell you exactly how to prepare it.
Occasionally I see something different and will buy from a vendor I don't normally frequent. That happened today when someone had the dark red pomegranates. Usually they have the sweeter and lighter pomegranates, but this morning I found a lady who had the tart ones, which are my absolute favorite.
The vendors outside are quite small and offer limited things, but it is usually picked that morning from their small gardens. I get most of my seasonal vegetables from a smaller vendor. She often knows what I am looking for and will "hide" it for me. We like the darker kale with a purple tint, so she always puts some beneath the other kale. This morning I could not find the darker kind and she winked at me and told me it was hidden under the lighter kind. She also had some pears that looked delicious and she insisted I try one before buying any. They were amazing and I bought enough to get us through the weekend. She always gives little tastes to the kids when they do the shopping with me.
After the market I stroll over to the bakery. We have been going to this bakery since 2011 and Anna, the baker, has watched the kids grow up. When Eston was a young tot she would give him long breadsticks and now he can go in and order and pay. Anna also knows our daily bread and will put a loaf aside for us if she sees the supply becoming low.
Once I have the bread I walk about five minutes to a different street that holds both the grocery store and the bio store. The bio store has oats, organic flours, spelt flour, nuts, etc. I also get organic creams and such here. The lady is super nice and can order anything for you. She is also an expert in essential oils and makes all sorts of lovely suggestions.
This is the "normal" grocery store. Here I buy all the boring stuff--toilet paper, trash bags, tomato paste, pasta, milk, etc. It is very small, but after a few years of shopping here it seems large and I am not sure I could handle a USA-sized grocery store at this point! The ladies who work here are lovely and know us and the kids and go nuts for Aurelia.
I walk back across the bridge towards home and marvel at the lovely view.
I cross La Rambla and it is usually pretty quiet at this time of day. Lots of delivery trucks, but not too many people before the shops open up for the day.
There are many tunnels in the Barri Vell (Old Quarter) and our kids love them. What is not to love? Who doesn't want to ride their bike or scooter through cool tunnels?!
This is our pharmacy. In the USA one can pop over to Target and get anything--band-aids, tylenol, anti-wrinkle cream, etc. Not so here. You go into the pharmacy and tell them what you need (or show them a prescription if that is the case) and they go in the back and rummage around a bit and come back with what you need. I love this. Kid has a weird rash? Ask the pharmacist what they need, no need for a trip to the doctor. Aurelia had weird gunk in her eye one day. Solved with the pharmacist. Now, they cannot give you any medication that is prescription only, but they can give you anything and everything else. And, if you are a desperate foreigner who just arrived and has a very sick child, they will give you antibiotics even though you should probably have a prescription.
More tunnels on the walk home!
This is the street at the bottom of our hill. I know it looks narrow, but I drive my car on it several times a day, so it is slightly wider than a car, but not by much. You can walk up stairs to our house, but when you are dragging your cart with 20kg of food it just isn't possible. So, you walk up this road...
Which turns to the left and goes straight up...
And at the top you have a lovely view!
Then you need to turn and continue up the hill to our house. I can actually make it up the hill on my crappy town bike with Aurelia in the seat, but it is quite the strength workout. Eston can now make it up the hill on his bike and he loves doing it.
Shopping here was quite foreign to me at first. I did not know what to buy and I kept buying too much and food would spoil before I had a chance to do anything with it. However, it did not take me long to adjust and now I am not so sure I could go back to a Costco and know what to do (though I would like the free samples). It would be very difficult for me to walk into a grocery store and buy food for a week. Honestly, that sounds crazy to me at this point. I can barely buy food for two days. There are a couple of larger grocery stores in town and I go to them once a year during the holidays to stock up for guests and parties, but it stresses me out and I always forget so many items--or I simply can't find them because the store seems huge! They also don't carry any items that are different than what my small grocery store has in stock--they simply have more of it.
Life here does seem to be a bit more simple in many ways and for that I am very grateful.
