Something Old, Something New

As I mentioned yesterday, I purchased a Christmas nougat candy called turrones during my adventures yesterday.  I brought the sweets to work today, since there was plenty for a crowd (given the extreme portion control on sweets that I have witnessed in my lab.  Incredible amounts of self control).

 I decided to bring out the sweets at lunch as a sort of surprise communal dessert.  Everyone expressed a desire to each the one with whole almonds (the one called "alicante"), so we ate that one.  The only thing is, the whole nuts complicate the process of cutting, so you end up wedging the knife into the confection and then applying all possible body weight and force until it fragments.  This left several gouges in the lunch table... but nobody needs to know that.

 It was really good!  The sweetness wrapped around the whole nut pieces, making it a nice combination of crunchy and sweet.

 And now something old, very old, in fact.  After work I decided to scope out some of the oldest buildings in Barcelona (ruins not included).  This shop, Subira Cereria, is the oldest store in Barcelona, dating to 1761.

This shop seems to have stuck to its original wares, candles, as well (although I hear it had a non-candle phase in the middle.  Everyone's allowed to have phases they regret).  The windows were filled with candles in bright colors sitting atop old lace.  However, today's candles live up to modern standards: what candle shop in a tourist area would be complete without a Sagrada Familia-shaped candle?

The shop was closed, which limited my snooping, but you can click here for a picture of the beautiful interior.
 On the way to my next store, I spotted this sleepy pup plopping down on the stoop of an... art store?  Apparently he has free reign to wander among the framed photographs and paintings.

 My next stop was another super duper old store, Forn Artesa Sant Jordi.  This Gothic district bakery has served the bread needs of its neighbors since 1798.

I had planned to try the bread here, or at least a pastry.  I think I'm becoming a pastry shop snob, though, because I wasn't really interested in most of their wares, which seemed a little lacking.  But hey, it was the end of the day.  They were probably out of most of the good stuff.

Spotted: Sales!

These started on July 1st (Sunday) and have been delighting shopaholics across the city ever since.  The government regulates when shops can have sales, so the major shopping times are in January (post-Christmas sales) and in July.  And every shop has sales.  At least, every store except for the major designer ones have HUGE, FULL-WINDOW signs declaring that their merchandise is up to 50% off.  I haven't been  shopping yet, but I think I'm going to have to check it out just for the experience.