Mercado

We are privileged to have an open air market, a "mercado", literally down the street from our house. It's twice a week, Monday's and Friday's, and I try to go as often as I can. One time we went, I grabbed my camera...let's go!!

And off we are, walking down the street...

Meet Ita (Pronounced Eta). She is a really sweet lady from our church, who went with me this trip to give me some tips about where/what the best vendors are.

It's quite a large market. And let me just tell you that it sells everything. Here's the entrance of the market...Each vendor has its own stall. And they often sell the same thing so prices are competitive. It's a loud place. Lots of people. Vendors hawking their wares. People laughing and talking. It's quite an interesting place!

Lots of clothes. The prices are cheaper than most stores and the quality is decent.

Lots of accessories-here it's belts, jewelry, and scarves. I'm going to need some serious scarves for wintertime and plan on stocking up here!

Lots and lots of shoes! Sometimes they'll put a sign over a table like this, saying that everything on the table is 5 euros. And there will be so many people swarmed around that you can't even see the table.

Jewelry. Buttons. Ribbon. These are just a few of the things this vendor is selling.

Socks! Love the display!

And then we turned the corner. To where farmers come from their farms to sell produce. And other vendors sell various other food items. Like this one, which has quite a supply of fresh beans.

Here's one of the produce vendors that I've bought from a few times. I try and buy from the smaller vendors, who have cheaper prices and sell straight from their farm.

There are a few vendors who sell one of our favorite things about Spain-cured meats and amazing cheese.

The cheese here is unbelievable. Better than anything I've ever tasted. It's all types of cheese. Cow, sheep, goat. And it is amazing. Manchego is one of their most famous cheeses and it is so delicious words fail me. It's very strong, which is what we love, and tastes really good with fresh bread. Lovelovelove!

And this, dear readers, is lomo. Cured pork. And it is one of our favorites here in Spain too. Combined with some manchego cheese on a piece of hogaza bread, it's a piece of heaven. YUM!

These pants were hanging right across from the meats. I had to take a picture because they are SUPER popular over here but I don't think the trend has hit the States yet?

More produce

We were done with our shopping and starting to head back. When all of a sudden, in the middle of a perfectly sunny day, it started pouring rain. As in raining cats and dogs. The youaredrenchedinfiveseconds type of rain. I guess this is typical here in Spain on a particularly"hot" (It was only about 80 degrees) day. Everyone immediately darted under the vendor's tents.

You can see how people were running to get cover, it was raining that hard. Rarely have I been in such a rainstorm!

So we stood for a few minutes under a vendor's tent. But it wasn't the greatest covering and we were all getting wet-we don't even own an umbrella, let alone did I even think to bring it with me! So Ita darted into a covered walkway and we followed. There was a set of stairs but some kind stranger appeared out of nowhere and helped me get the stroller up. And there we stood for about 10 minutes. With everyone else, waiting out the storm.

And then, just as suddenly as it started, it was gone. The sun came back out. And everyone returned to their shopping and business as before! Guess who needs to buy an umbrella??