Mercat*

Our last morning in Barcelona and breakfast in the café in Barrioboy's and Digitaldaze's local market after I'd restricted myself to buying just a few things that we could carry home: some charcuterie at this stall and some olives from a stall where we were served by a friendly woman who gave us tastings and extras to go with the olives we'd bought and was interested that we had olive trees in our garden.

What a wonderful stopover we had in Barcelona - thanks to the warm and welcoming hospitality of Bb and Dd. We've only been away for ten days but it seems like longer with all our memories of Valencia, Xativa and Barcelona. The rain that caught up with us this morning and followed us along the Mediterranean coast home seemed a sign that the fun was over. It's still good to be home, though, to reach the village square just as the shop was opening and to be greeted by S who runs it with smiles at our return and questions about our time away. We're definitely back in our barrio (or barri as it is in Occitan) now but thanks to Bb and Dd for introducing us to theirs. We hope to reciprocate soon!

* market in Catalan.