Check out the excellent GREENVILLE playing live tonight in Sólo Bar, Calle Margarit 18, from 21h30 – 23h30.

GREENVILLE was formed in Barcelona in 2007 by singer-guitarist Jay Harden and violinist Naomi Wedman. Mixing Harden’s original songs with a wide range of old American tunes, a live set can include an eclectic mix of bluegrass, blues, jazz, country, rock & roll and the occasional Irish jig. Guest members include country singer Carrie Lewis, Jonny English on the harmonica and Scottish Andy playing atmospheric pedal steel guitar.

Entrance is free.

www.myspace.com/hardenjay.

La Boqueria, officially the Sant Josep Mercat, is the lively, bustling, colourful ‘Market of Markets’ on La Rambla. It is well worth exploring: for its atmosphere, for its history, its produce, its characters… If I’m walking that way, I’ll always wonder through it: perhaps I’ll pick up a seasonal speciality or grab a freshly squeezed juice on crushed ice, but mostly I’ll just observe and soak up a bit of the mayhem. Last week a friend suggested we have lunch there. Despite having lived in Barcelona several years, this was a first for me; it is not likely to be the last.

There are numerous tapas bars and restaurants within the market, tightly packed between fresh veg and candied fruit stalls. We went to Universal, located in the top right-hand corner of the market if you enter through the main entrance from La Rambla. Universal has bar seating around the stall and several circular tables along the edge of the colonnade, enough for around 40 heads. It was, of course, packed.

Originally catering for the stall holders, the market bars gained a reputation based on their convivial staff – who juggle chefing and serving in a space smaller than the average Barrio Gotico kitchen, their access to the best fresh produce in Barcelona and their reasonable prices. This reputation still holds today. For 13€ I was served a colourful plate of sautéed vegetables: red pepper, courgettes, asparagus; followed by a whole sea bream, crisped up on the outside and impressively tender and light within, with handmade chips; and finished off with the sweetest chunk of melon. It being autumn and the start of the mushroom season, my friend paid the supplement and salivated over sautéed cepes and a hunk of sea bass. Drinks were included.

La Boqueria is and absolutely should be a must-see, must-do experience. Previously, I would have recommended it simply as a novel place to get the groceries. Now I realise it is much more than this, La Boqueria is a one-stop shop sit sample and salivate affair.

Top Tip: If you arrive at one of these bars and there’s no where to sit, notify the staff of your numbers and loiter eagerly, they’ll ensure your place isn’t pilfered by a passing opportunist.

(photo by bouneweeger)