Monday, October 28, 2013

Beggars can be Choosers


Glen and I took a 2-day weekend trip to the island of Mallorca off the east coast of Spain. We ran away from a chilly and dreary Madrid and landed in a tropical island with 80OF sunshine. We spent our time wandering through the winding streets of Palma (the main city in Mallorca), touring La Catedral de La Seu—which was constructed from 1229-1601 and restored in 1901 under Antoni Gaudí—tasting local cuisine, and soaking up the sunshine.
 
La Catedral de La Seu
Glen and I on Platja Palicana 
On our last day in Palma, just before heading back to the airport, we decided to check out Palma’s market, Mercat de Santa Catalina. The market is similar to a smaller version of Barcelona’s Boquería: various fresh fruit and veggies stands interweaved with bakeries, fish markets, tapas bars, and sushi restaurants. We stopped by one of the tapas stands for one euro tostada tapas and then tried a salmon, mango, avocado roll from one of the sushi areas, the sushi was incredibly fresh and innovative, definitely worth the stop! Still, the highlight of this island get-away was yet to come. 

The weather was beautiful and we had a bit of time before we needed to head to the airport, so we decided to buy some cheese—queso bleu d’Auvergne and queso de cabra—and fresh bread from two other stands in the market. We moved to a park nearby and finished our lunch with a mallorcan picnic. We found a nice bench in the center of the park in front of a fountain and began our cheese and bread. As we were eating, a homeless man came over to ask for money, we thought. But, instead of asking for money, he said hello and noticed our picnic. He asked if he could have some bread, so Glen broke off a piece to give to him. Then, he noticed our cheese and asked, “Is that blue cheese or goat? Can I have some blue cheese, too?” Surprised, and quite amused by his preferences, he got some blue cheese to go with his bread, too.

Apparently, beggars can be choosers. 

1 comment:

  1. Beggars can be choosers if you choose to let them.

    ReplyDelete