Souvenir #3

Oddball souvenir prospects in tourist-saturated Spain looked dim -- a search for a flea market in Riga had turned up nothing (food markets, no fleas) -- and similar assumptions had to be made about fancy-pants, art nouveau Barcelona. A closer look at an old travel guide on Day 6, however, talked of a big junk-and-all market (Els Encants Veils) near Plaça de les Glories Catalanes. It was a mix of everything -- old crap -- bottles, dishes, dusty, crusty books strewn on blankets, mountains of porn (DVD and VHS, too), paintings, mountains of clothes, purses, socks, undies and bras, bangles and baubles, furniture, cameras, coins, tools and machinery. I spotted a tiny, perfectly rectangular flask that looked cracked on its edge -- the seller wouldn't budge from 6 € even though J pointed out the likelihood of it leaking. We passed. J spotted a great old Spanish watch -- no lower than 30 €, though the piece was very banged up, would need some repairs, a new crystal, etc. I finally came across a viewfinder in the guise of a TV that showed scenes of something/somewhere called "Sto. Esperanza Calasparra" (apparently, these are photos of a 'sanctuario' in Calasparra, a town in 'Murcia', an autonomous region in Spain). Though we'd been nowhere near Murcia, the viewfinder pics were reminiscent of what we'd seen of the Monastery at Montserrat a few days before.

As often happens at flea markets -- the seller isn't minding his/her stall when you're stoked for haggling. We returned to the stall 3 times -- and finally got a price from an operator one stall over. 6 €. We had to walk off scowling, grumbling, spitting and flailing to get this scratched-up plastic kid's toy down to 2 €. But it's a beaut all the same. (In fact, I think this photo of the Senora de la Esperanza through the peephole gives off quite a holy aura when digitally reproduced -- perhaps some kind of divine image -- maybe this post should become prayer-per-view/pay-per view.)