Exploring Barcelona: Shopping in Catalan Spain with Savvy Mom Ruth
Paget
Walking
along the Ramblas in Barcelona, I passed the Gran Teatre de Licieu where the
Catalan opera called Zarzuela is performed.
Attending
the opera was expensive for us even the kiddy matinées, but fortunately they
did have children’s cultural programming on television in Europe, so Florence
could see musical programs like Peter and the Wolf, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella,
and the Nutrcracker on television.
A
little further down from Rambla Sant Josep, I heard meows, cackling birds,
cooings, and gurgles of aquariums along the Rambla del Estudios as vendors to
buy a pet.
Along
this Rambla, I found a neat bookstore and a cheap one at that; it was the
Catalan regional government’s bookstore.
I bought a book about Catalan wine and food in Castellano, which
everyone outside of Spain refers to as Spanish.
Opposite
the bookstore is the Catalan Cathedral of good food, the Boquería Market. The place was so crowded that I could hardly
squeeze Florence through in her stroller.
I
knew I was a nuisance from all the vendors calling me, “mamasita.” That innuendo is called a “piropo” in Spain.
I
wanted to rent an apartment near the Boquería, so I could try my hand with the
local ingredients. After awhile, it
became impossible to maneuver Florence through the crowd, so I reluctantly left
the market.
The
place I visited next was the Plaça Catalunya.
The stores there were nicer in this area. Supposedly, there were Roman tombs there, but
all I could see was traffic.
It
started raining, so I decided to do some shopping at El Corte Ingles, the big
department store in town.
There
were no doors leading into the store.
There was just a large opening with sawdust on the floor and security
guards posted on either side of the opening.
When
the Spanish people congregate in public they tend to speak loudly and the
department store is no exception
By
Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
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