SPANISH OLIVES / TEMPTATIONS AND FIXATIONS

Olive plate next to a hotel window that overlooks the train station in Valencia, Spain.

Photography Phyllis Shess, April 2010, 2013

SPAIN OR PACIFIC BEACH?—When life starts to get overly complicated it’s time to spend the last of the inheritance on a ticket Spain, where you may kick back with the following three famed marketplaces in Spain.

--a dish of unpitted olives from Valencia,

--some Catalan dry cheese with pan in Barcelona

--a glass of red wine in Madrid.

If Spain remains on you wish list as it is mine then locally, all of the above can be found at Pata Negra Market, 1657 Garnet Avenue, San Diego.

QUICK OLIVE, WINE, CHEESE AND BREAD TOUR OF SPANISH MERCATS

Olive selection from Mercado de San Miguel, Madrid

Inside Mercat St. Josef La Boqueria, Barcelona

Delicacies inside Valencia's Mercat Central

Tourist about to order a kilo of olives in Valencia in a language he knows very little of

Wine, Cheese, Olives and Bread are among the staples at Mercado de San Miguel, Madrid.

FAMED MERCATS IN BARCELONA, MADRID and VALENCIA

Exterior Mercat St. Josef, Barcelona

Exterior Mercat San Miguel, Madrid

Exterior Mercat Central, Valencia