A Picture Album of My Favorite Place

I have found my absolute favorite spot in Spain: The Boqueria Market. It’s a sprawling open-air space filled with endless stalls of the world’s most gorgeous fruits and vegetables and cheeses and seafood and meats and nuts and grains and chocolate and candy. Heaven. On. Earth.

Every weekend, it’s my first and last stop in Barcelona. I arrive on the earliest morning train, and as the sun is just beginning to filter through the rafters, I ramble through the longs aisles and just watch as the hurried vendors set up their multihued mountains of colorful displays. The busy energy and hectic noise of such a grand and beautiful place coming alive in the morning never ceases to entrance me. I am instantly transported to a world of bliss and wonder. And then after a day of walking and eating along the old Barcelona streets, I return to my market of markets, and try my best to choose from this myriad of dazzling ingredients, a few delectable provisions to take home with me for the week ahead.

I could go on all day, describing this beautiful place to you. I could exploit my best descriptive writing skills, and come up with some truly spectacular essay. I could rack my brains and string together an impressive list of fancy adjectives that would stun even Mr. Lundholm (my eleventh grade English teacher – a very cool guy with a tremendous vocabulary). I could.

But I think we’d all prefer some pictures! Right? And as tricky as it is choosing from this vast array, just a few goodies to fit in my bag and take home with me on the train, it turns out it’s just as tough deciding on some photos to share with you. So I’ve included a whole slew of pictures today. My hope is that this whole mess of photos will give you a glimpse into the immense variety, colorful energy and vast beauty that is La Boqueria Market. Please enjoy.