To market, to market... and other discoveries

A lovely dried food stall in our local Gracia market. Grocery shopping, traditional-style!

"I'd like one of everything please, Mommy." - Little Angel

Since we'd run through the groceries from the El Corte Inglés, the kids and I went grocery shopping yesterday in our neighborhood.  In contrast to the supermarket, this is what it looks like to shop in one of the traditional Gracia markets. Most of the signs are posted in Catalan (not Spanish) which is a little intimidating... I was nervous about how I would speak with the merchants.  It went well though, and the sellers were kind about teaching us the words for different fruits and vegetables in both Spanish and Catalan.

The kids were really upset to see these raw chickens with their necks still attached in the shop case, and insisted that we go somewhere else to buy chicken.  Ironically, they had no problem at all five minutes later watching the fishmonger use a massive blade to de-spine and fillet our salmon.  
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Rambling Around Town...

Gracia continues to prepare for its annual summer festa!

Every day the locals make more and more progress getting Gracia ready for its Festa next week. They are painting, soldering, sawing, glueing and sewing with great heart and concentration, all around the neighborhood.

There are parks in all sizes, everywhere.  The kids have noticed this and commented happily about it.  
We've walked so much, and it really helps to stop and play every now and then.

Under the right circumstances, even middle schoolers love to swing :)

Sometimes along our walks, we see surprising things: 

Barcelona is an elegant city with a sense of humor ;) 

After so much walking, it's often nice to stop for a snack!

We find ourselves, every day, somewhere in Barcelona :)