Fish stall at Mercat de la Mercé, Nou Barris, Barcelona

Who said a female fishmonger had to be rude, shabby and smelly. Well, I guess they smell of fish of course but certainly these girls have a wonderful look. I realize my comments are stupid but I wanted to muse on cliches around professions. I don't know in your country but at least here I remember one: You shout like a fishmongeress, something that of course is not always true. Maybe you can share other cliches you've heard of in your city.

Medieval Pottery: Evoking Ancient Crafts

Pottery is an art that goes hand in hand with the history of man and civilization. It is said that the first known pieces were found in Japan between 400 and 10,500 BC (see A history of Pottery). Along the way,  a slow wheel or tournette was substituted by the fast potter's wheel around 2000 BC. Potters between XIII and XV had enough tools and skills to produce house utensils and building materials on a big scale, thus developing social relationships around this market and more specialization. But I am not here to write a treaty on pottery. My mission is to attract your curiosity and pave the way to your own research on possible topics on the web. If this happy potter image in a medieval fair in Vic, triggered your intellectual hunger, then the goal has been attained. In case you want to know what the sign says in the background: Taller de fang amb aigua calenta is Catalan for clay with hot water workshop.

Rabbit and Pumpkins, Medieval Fair, Vic (Osona), Catalonia

Today I visited the Medieval Fair or Market that is held every year in Vic, capital of Osona. I highly recommend this event to learn about medieval trades or crafts, get in contact with Catalan history and try local food which is an excellent sample of our cuisine. If you are on a diet please refrain from attending this fair. Further ahead I will talk more since this rabbit and pumpkins image is not very illustrative.