Fresh Fruit on the Rambla

I woke up at 3, still needing more sleep but excited to go explore the city I have heard a lot about. I was at the heart of the city and was all set to walk. I picked up a shirt and headed out. There was cloud cover but the weather was pretty nice. I stepped into the Rambla and there saw a sea of people walking along. Amazing that again it was still a week day and that so many people were in the streets. In any case it was a delight to walk the street with all these people. Along the way, I found the market, I ventured in. This was an interesting place, fresh fruit, vegetables, cheese meat, fish were all sold here, even nuts and candy. In the narrow lanes people packed to buy the items they needed or to take photos of the whole event. My mind immediately set foot in Elatabbah Market, in downtown Cairo, and mind you was it a huge step, backwards. This was different, pretty organized and definitely the level of cleanliness was high. Some of the fruit stand prepared freshly cut fruits and freshly squeezed juice to the peple. I bought myself a helping of fruit and took a side to consume it. It was interesting to watch the people flock in and out, tourist were easy to spot and so were locals. There was a great vibe to the place. The fruit was nice and so I decided that I would pick up another portion and that I would return here tomorrow.

I made it out of the market and back on the Rambla, as I strolled closer to the port the type of shops in the middle of the street changed. Actually the Rambla is a wide street with sidewalks on both sides, a little narrow though, and one lane either way for cars. The center of the street is a large pedestrian area that has people walking, performers use it as their stage and shops set up to sell different items. The first few blocks are most filled with newspaper stands that also sell souvenirs. As you progress, these stand change to be selling flowers and pets, a more colorful variant to the earlier. Farther down the road painters have taken the street, selling their art and drawing sketches of people at their will. As you come closer to the port, the newsstands start to show up again until the final stretch of the road which is empty (I later understood why). In the mist of all this restaurants setup tables along the way, and performers set their stage to do their act. The seas of people complete the story of the Rambla that is filled with activity.

I finally made the walk to the Colon, or the column celebrating the arrival of Christopher Columbus, who sailed into Barcelona when he came back after finding the Americas.