La Boqueria Review.

Last Saturday I visited the Mercat de Sant Josep dela Boqueria located on La Rambla in Catalonia, Barcelona. Immediately following my entrance through the front gates an abundance of smells wafted in my nose. Diverse food carts comprised seemingly never ending rows. A large crowd of people quickly engulfed me. I was stopped in my tracks, unsure of which direction to go and which food stands to visit first. As I allowed fate to lead me down one of the alleys, my nose was filled with the sweet smells of ripe fruit, fresh flowers, fresh seafood, and fried food. Each cart in sight looked equally delicious. I did not know where to stop first. At last a brightly colored fruit stand caught my eye. The cart was filled with dozens of diverse fresh fruit juices labeled with a 1.5 Euro sign. This was the cheapest price I had seen yet. My choice was obvious that I must buy one, but the real dilemma was which one to choose. As it was still mid-morning, I found myself gravitating towards choosing a regular orange juice. However, since I was in such a unique situation, I quickly realized it was essential for me to try something new. I decided upon a freshly squeezed orange juice mixed with strawberries. It was unlike any juice I had tasted before. As I sucked the fuchsia pink liquid into my straw I was immediately picked-up by the natural sweetness of the juice. It tasted as if I had bitten into a strawberry and orange at the same time and their ripe juice exploded into my mouth as I would imagine biting into a raindrop might feel. This experience caused me to wonder what the other juices tasted like also. Were they as amazing, or perhaps even better?

Following my experience with this first cart, I continued to wander through the market choosing other random paths until I eventually conquered the entire space. I passed dozens of other tapas, meat, cheese, chocolate, seafood, and fruit carts, none of which beat the price of mine. I found it very hard to pass by a few of these carts. The smells of fried tapas croquettes especially made my mouth salivate as I passed by. If only my bank account allowed me the funds to adventure even further with food. If I had an unlimited amount of money to spend on great food in Spain, I would have never left that market.

#Food