A Cyber Walk In Granollers

Today I thought I´d take you for a quick walk in Granollers to my favourite coffee shop/bakery.  Let´s go.

 These are the stairs from our apartment. We´re going down.

At the bottom of our building there are two elevators. Sometimes, if I want to get one last look at what I look like before I go out into the world, I open the doors of the elevator and there is a long mirror. Doesn´t show shoes, but I get a more flattering light than the one in my hall.  That´s me today.  (If you want, you can post me a picture of you today and I´ll add it to the blog too, just for fun)

Here´s our entrance. The weather has changed a bit in the last few days.  Today it´s sunny but with a few clouds. About 23 degrees, but cooler in the shade and breeze.  I´m still wearing sandals.

We turn left and that ´s what we see.  The building beside us is a bank with some surprisingly insensitive and politically incorrect advertising considering the  ‘occupy` movement going down.

So we walk to the end of the block (15 steps?) and turn left again. Yes, lots of graffiti here.

Our bins! This is still our block! Come on.

It`s marketday! It´s pretty late (1:30), so people are packing up. I haven`t been to the market for ages.  We have to get across here. Hold on to your bag. Granollers is usually pretty safe, but on market day every one has a better grip on their possessions.

I usually cut down here. There a less people. Especially on market day.

We`re almost there.  Love this old stone work. A student of mine just walked passed.  Smile and wave.

There`s the church! We`re sitting there.

Ferrer! Our coffee shop/bakery.  I think it has one of the best coffees in Granollers.  My sweet tooth has more or less disappeared in the last weeks, but you can order what you like. Today`s on me, so order  anything you like.

It was lovely to see you today! Thanks for joining me. 

This is the first post where I have used my new Toshiba netbook, our lovely fuji camera, my new Motorola flipout and done everything myself! (ok I did call Albert about some small details, but, I did the actual work!)

I´m even going to try to blue tooth this document to my flipout and send it from this coffee shop before I leave.  Am I not totally cool and clever, not to mention modern and dexterous?¿  That is my Spanish keyboard for you!

Hugs all and talk to you soon!


(edit - blog publishing disaster actually occurred but hopefully Albert can help me out with tech details. Learnt a lot though!) 

Summer in Plaza Corona

It's almost lunch time here. But people are feeling lazy. Summer is truly here. Flies are dancing in the air. It's also market day in Granollers, so there are many more people on the street. There's a breeze, but it's warm.
 I came out to drink Tiger's Nut milk (orxata) but felt so lazy I decided to take a boost of caffeine instead. I'm cleaning the apartment and preparing for our month long road trip to Norway. We leave on Sunday. I can't afford to be lazy this afternoon.
 I'm also strongly aware that when we return it will be to the Festa Major. A week long (loud) party centred 50 metres from our building block.
And my brother arrives. It will be his first visit to Granollers.
Ah, the cafe amb llet is kicking in. It was my emergency coffee for work purposes! Is it me, or is everyone suddenly walking faster?
 Oh, and remember, the sales start here twice a year. The 7th of January and the 1st of July. So if you plan to come for shopping, those are the best days.
My friend Kate said she was feeling in love with this place lately. I guess it's contagious. Arrogant women, lazy appreciative men, hot sun, lots of bars with terraces, people milling about. It's not the Spain of the south, as I have read about, but it's plenty for me.

Market from the Museum to the Library Square

Although this section of the market sells cosmetics, CD's, hand bags and shoes, it is mostly dominated by clothes stalls. In this season they even sell swim wear.

Canovelles Fruit and Veg Market

It's a beautiful day. It's crazy in the market. The fruit smells delicious. I even bought custard apples. Yum. And without thinking about it, I'm matching my trolley! In black and white.

Market Day - from Corona Plaza to Granollers Museum

We've got women's clothing in abundance, wool and sewing stuff, children's clothing, swim wear (it's spring!), house coats/aprons, bags, stalls with what can only be called bits and pieces, socks, scarves, cheap jewelry, PJ's, men's clothing, shoes and cheap cosmetics.


Corona Plaza on Market Day 
Thursday is Market Day in Granollers
The Market from the Museum to the Library Square

After the Busy Day Shopping at the Market

Torres in the Porxada in Granollers is truly one of The institutions here. Its vanilla cream is well known to be the best in town. And busy!

Corona Plaza on Market Day

On Thursday in Granollers they hold the traditional market day. In Corona Square they have women's clothing, hats, cheap Spanish style dresses, scarves, shoes, sewing materials, underwear, socks, jewelry, electrical odds and ends, men's clothing, cosmetics, handbags and suitcases.

La Porxada in Granollers

There it is. The central piece of the town. Its highly symbolic of the modern town also. It was The Market in the old days. Now its a display piece and houses mini markets of antiques, local produce and the occasional football game for children on Sundays. Today its acting as a meeting point for Kate and I. If you want to shop, but you don't want the crowds of Barcelona, welcome to Granollers.

The Strange Thing with Ensaimades

Jett has a theory with Ensaimades. That is, if it looks good, don't get it. Only buy it if it looks dry. Many times this works. Its really impossible to tell if its going to be soft, buttery and melt in the mouth, or dry. Jett has good luck with his pastry choices. The one above was average.

The Church Square on Market Day in Granollers

We've got clothes, blankets, boots, towels and jewelry. People are calling out 'one euro!' and 'ba!'. Ba translates to something like come on! The sun is shining beautifully today. I'm sitting in the sun, waiting for my coffee. Then off to the Porxada to buy fruit for my new juicer.

Thursday is Market Day in Granollers

The market begins at about 7 am and closes at about 2. Stall holders sell clothing, food, shoes, chickens, snails, plants, and what ever else you might want. You hear calls of ‘1 euro’ and ‘only 5 euros.’

Albert told me that I could buy something, but I had a sudden fear of being ‘ripped off’, as is perfectly natural coming straight from Asia. I just didn’t want to start a price battle for a three pairs of socks.

‘Do they try to cheat foreigners here?’
‘No.’
‘Can you bargain for the items?’
‘No – well, I guess you can. I never have though.’

There was a squash of people through the narrow streets. It was quite warm, considering the past few days at 15 degrees. There’s a distinct lack of insects anywhere and hardly any birds.

The only animals we saw were small dogs on leads and some caged chickens for sale.

I’ve been told to be careful of my purse, especially on market day. I’d seen a documentary the evening before showing pick pockets in the markets.

In all the time we have been travelling, nothing has been stolen from our person. Albert says that the most dangerous place we’ll be going to is probably Barcelona, for this small thieving. Again, people don’t want to hurt you, they just want your money.

We met Albert’s mother Montse in Torres, a local bakery/café. It had a delicious array of cakes to choose from, and the coffee was hot and strong, though they only gave me one sugar.






Next week I’m going to buy something, and try out my Catalan.