Barcelona Flea

Back in May, I decided to celebrate my birthday in one of my very favorite places, Barcleona. If you've never been here, I encourage you to add it to your bucket place. The art, architecture, weather, and shopping make it one of the most vibrant places to see in the world. I always find something new when I go there. This last visit, I made a point of spending a morning at one of the oldest flea markets in Europe, Mercat Del Encants. This nondescript parking lot of vendors and stalls is about to undergo a big transformation, which means I will be heading back to see the update in the not-too-distant future. In the meantime, here are some of the items that I found:

A vintage Spanish coffee grinder,

An ornate Rococo solid brass plant stand

All in all, it was a very interesting experience to try and navigate this market by myself for the first time, but I feel like I scored some good deals on some interesting stuff. A word of caution; all the web research I did prior to my visit to El Encants indicated that I should try and bargain with the vendors. My experience? Not so much. I'll be the first to admit that my Spanish is not great, and unless you can speak it fluently with a Catalan dialect, I would refrain from trying to bargain. I felt and (undoubtedly) looked silly. Despite the language barriers, there was one vendor in particular I found, Jose Robles, who was particularly willing to listen to my broken Spanish. Jose also had two of the best stocked booths at the market, packed with very interesting things at reasonable prices (or at least prices that an inexperienced American was willing to pay). He was the source for the 2 items I purchased above. If you want a glimpse at what you'll find at El Encants, check out his website: www.joserobles.com.

In the meantime, happy hunting!

                                                     Image source: ca.wikipedia.org