Bar Mercat

Thursday is market day. And market day means coffee and tapas - maybe a brandy - at Bar Mercat. This is now a family tradition: we come here on Thursdays even if we do not go to the market. 

We drove down to the market just after 11am and secured a place in the underground parking. Then to the bar which, since I was last there, appears to have expanded and taken over even more of the units. We did manage to bag a couple of stools at a table by the door and toilets. We ordered our coffees and a little snack and waited.  Eventually, a bigger table became free so we moved and ordered another drink.

Another round of tapas, more coffee, some beers and a brandy were all ordered. The owner of the bar is always welcoming and chatty which is what makes this a perfect place to spend the morning. I do wonder why we have to wait until market day. As the bar is inside the undercover market - rather near the larger open air Thursday market - it must be open on other days of the week. And it might be quieter. Maybe the buzz is what it’s all about.

We spent the afternoon in the pool and then the grill pan came out again and we used some of the ingredients we bought the other day to cook a paella. This is also a little tradition we do when we are in Spain. Dave and Sue joined us a little later, but as they had eaten, they just had a drink. Sue brought the marmalade she’d promised. It’s made from the oranges that fall from the trees around the development where the villa is.  They often just rot on the ground so she salvages some of them and makes marmalade for herself, for friends and to sell for charity. I’ve promised to take both my jar and mum and dad’s jar back in my suitcase. It’ll mean I have to check my luggage but we will have a little bit of Gata with us.