Passeig de Mercat

I've given up the search for a cheap replacement wheel for my bicycle. The city seems a little bigger now as a pedestrian. Today I felt inspired (maybe just compelled to leave studio) to seek out a few of the old markets of Barcelona. I started in Placa Universitat and took Ronda Sant Antoni to Mercat Sant Antoni. This boulevard marks a segment of the old wall that was destroyed when the Eixample was created. Mercat de Sant Antoni is a large market covering an entire Eixample block, with four entrances at each chamfered corner. Apparently there is a book market on sunday mornings, but it was closed by the time I walked past.
From there I cut over to Avinguda Paral.lel west through Placa Espana. This plaza opens up to Montjuic and the site of the 1929 World's Fair. Further down Paral.lel on the left is Mercat Hostafrancs. Much smaller than Sant Antoni, the market is a simple three aisle layout with a modern supermarket taking up the west wing. Most of the front is covered in stainless steel vending stands. I hope the inside looks better, because the exterior was nothing special.
I cut up a couple blocks to Sants Estacio and the park just east of it. The huge station has a huge plaza in front of it and a huge park to the side. Felt about a mile wide. I crossed over to Avinguda Josep Tarradellas, which connects Sants to Diagonal. Some of the traffic patterns of the eixample made no sense, especially where four lane roads start without any traffic directed into it. Half of the streets were empty, used only for their parking spaces. Av Terradellas hits Diagonal with Travessera de Gracia, which extends into the heart of Gracia.
While Av Terradellas cuts throught the Eixample, with the grid continuing through it, Travessera mediates between the Eixample grid and the outskirts of Gracia. Mercat de Llibertat is getting renovated and, similar to the set up of Eastern Market in DC, a temporary market is set up a block away. The original building is set up similar to Hostafrancs, although modern CMU intervention looks a little out of place. There was one other market in Gracia but by this point I had forgetten its name and location. Time to head back to studio.