VI'S COMING!!!!

A week from now, I will have spent a whole day and be well into my second day here in Bilbao with Violetta.
She arrives at 5:45 a.m. on Sunday and will stay with me until February 17th, when we will both head to the beautiful city of Barcelona, and spend a few days together there. I am so excited!!!! As I walk around Bilbao, I try and see things the way Vi will see them. I can't wait to see this city that I've fallen in love with and come to think of as home as described by Violetta.
She's arriving by bus, so I know she will be tired when she gets here, but it will be Sunday morning, perfect for checking out the bizarre bazaar that is the flea market in Plaza Nueva in Casco Viejo. That's the place where you can buy things that most people would call junk. It's kinda scary sometimes, you look at the stuff arranged on a table and you know this guy is selling the contents of a house he robbed recently. One guy was selling used car radios... come on! Cellphones without sim cards? find them at the flea market! However, this flea market is also a collector's dream. There are stamp collectors, gem collectors, coin collectors, old book collectors, dirty magazine collectors, and whatever.... In the `plaza itself, groups of people congregate to trade trading cards of different types, other areas contain makeshift pet stores selling birds, turtles, goldfish and other pet paraphernalia, and near to them you will find people who are owners of new litters of kittens or puppies, looking for adoptive parents. I go there looking for books in English, and sometimes I even find them! The atmosphere is really fun though. I am sure most people aren't there to buy. Just to drink in the crowd while sipping at their red wine or a glass of mosto in one of the jillions of barras that line the plaza.
Speaking of mosto... I discovered it a few months ago. I have yet to find out what the difference is between mosto and zumo de uva (grape juice). Mosto is grape juice. However if you go to a bar and ask for grape juice, no one has it. If you ask for mosto, they always have it. It is served in a tall glass with ice and a slice of orange. Always. And it's always the cheapest thing on the menu. If a coke or nestea is 1.50, the mosto is almost always less than 1 euro, often 80 cents. I don't get it. But I like it :o)
So tip for non-drinking travellers in Spain who want to save a few centimos... drink mosto.