Oh Barcelona, May 8th

Waking up in a new city is both exciting and daunting.  Maybe it is the unfamiliar noises of your new locale or your stomach growling for some breakfast that finally gets you moving after your long day of travel.  

First on the agenda, find a mercado for some staples and local fare.  Barcelona has one of the largest and most well known markets in Spain,  La Boqueria.  It happened to be conveniently located within a ten minute walk from our apartment.  It defies description of scale.  We had visited before on our previous trip to Barcelona and it again did not disappoint.  It is "farmer's market" porn.

Finding the local and nearest grocery store can be a little more challenging.  A short walk got us to Consume market, the local chain.  It had most any staple required to fulfill my grocery list of eggs, sausage or bacon, yogurt, coffee, wine, olives and cheese. We found amazing inexpensive wines (2-3 Euros) that turned out to be fantastic. I bought Pancetta de Cerdo (thought is was a bacon facsimile). It turned out to be fresh pork (uncured pork belly).  The first attempt at cooking it for breakfast turned out "meh".  I figured it out for the second preparation and it was not bacon but yummy anyway.

I also purchased "gazpacho original" in a 1 quart carton.  This is one of my favorite food items in Spain.  Not such a good purchase, it did not have the rich taste I was looking for.  After researching, I learned that I prefer the taste of "Andalucian" gazpacho which has stale bread incorporated, giving it a creamier texture.  Live and learn.  I have since corrected my error and had some awesome gazpacho out of a carton.

And if you can't find exactly what you are craving at the local market or grocery, you can be accommodated at CHOK, for a Kronut or some other exotic pastry.  Check out the link to see how they hang their little masterpieces on a pegboard behind the register.  Very creative and delicious.