Earlier this week, I shared some photographs I snapped of the historic Old Town of Santiago de Compostela, in Galicia, Spain. Now before I get to the photographs from the Cathedral (which was consecrated back in 1211!), I wanted to share with you the second most visited location in this hallowed city. It isn’t another church or cathedral, museum, park or plaza. It’s the bustling Mercado de Abastos (Abastos Market), a fresh food market that has been going along the eastern edge of the old walled city since 1873.
The current complex dates back to the 1940s and houses approximately 70 individual vendors selling everything from fresh fruits and veggies (many grown right in the region of Galicia) to meats and just-caught-yesterday fish and seafood (many of them still moving). We visited the bustling market (which is open from Monday to Saturday, 7am to 3pm) on the afternoon of Christmas Eve and the place was buzzing. Had the Fujifilm X-T3 and a few good lenses in hand (I rented them just for this trip) and I just started snapping. Here’s a look inside the Mercado de Abastos.
{Oh, and any vegetarians/vegans might want to sit this one out and tune in next week when I present photographs from the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela – see you then!}
Because of the holiday, a local news crew was in the market interviewing some of the vendors…
That’s a wrap, folks. As for my daughter and I, we picked up several pieces of empanada Gallega de bacalao (Galician empanada with salt cod hash) – one of my favorite things to eat in Galicia. My next post will be a look inside the hallowed Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela so SUBSCRIBE HERE so you won’t have to live with regret. You won’t be sorry. Promise.
If you’re just joining us, my daughter and I decided to embark on an eight-city driving tour of Spain that started in Madrid and commenced south to the charming city of Córdoba (check out the photographs HERE and images from the stunning Mosque-Cathedral HERE), then continued further south to Gibraltar, back northwest a bit to the coastal city of Cádiz and Jerez de la Frontera (check out the photographs HERE) and then back up north to the beautiful city of Seville (check out the first series of photographs HERE). In Seville, we visited the charming Plaza de España as well as the magnificent Seville Cathedral and the Royal Alcázar, both UNESO World Heritage Sites. From Seville, we drove up to the lovely University city of Salamanca and then further northwest to the final city on our trip Santiago de Compostela. So consider yourself caught up.
Special thanks to the folks at Fujifilm for the great rental price on the Fujifilm X-T3. This is a wonderful camera for traveling. Light, comfortable to hold, great in low light and armed with a truly remarkable phase detection autofocus area with with over 2,000,000 phase detection pixels that cover the entire frame (trust me, that’s pretty impressive). Besides the camera, I had the 16-55 f/2.8, 56mm f/1.2, 16mm f/1.4, and 50-140mm f/2.8 lenses. Also grateful for my Lowepro SlingShot 102 Camera Bag which has been my faithful companion for the past 7+ years, and the Joby GorillaPod 3K Flexible Mini-Tripod.
I also gotta tip my hat to my KEEN® shoes (I have the Finlay Oxfords). I mean, walking on cobblestone streets all day is tough on your feet. I had brought along a pair of Skechers Memory Foam Shoes as well as my Adidas Cloudfoam sneakers. Neither of them even came close to my KEEN® shoes as far as comfort. If you plan to walk around Europe’s rough cobblestone streets, these shoes won’t let you down. Nuff said.
Like what you see? Photographs are available in all shapes and sizes on my SmugMug page. From simple paper prints to wall art, desk art, keepsakes (magnets, mugs, mousepads, etc) and even phone cases. Browse the collection by clicking the image below…
