Santa Caterina Market

Part of our explorations today included a stop at the famous Santa Caterina market place to pick up some lunch and see the wide variety of fresh foods available.  The market was the main market for this area of the city dating back to the 1850s and the original white building is that old.  The multicolored ceramic roof is a relatively recent addition and protects the original building to some extent (and adds a nice flare).  

If we had trouble finding a wider variety of fresh fruits in the regular grocery store, there was no problem here. 

Fruits, including many I could not identify.  We got some raspberries and grapes. 

Meats, including full sheep's heads (with out the skin, but with all the other parts)

The fish were frozen in a thin sheet of ice that coated them, so you could see them well, and then laid on top of the ice for display.  Surprisingly it didn't smell fishy, probably because they were frozen.  I saw all sorts of strange fish on display. 

This was the olive section.  I had no idea so many different olives existed!  I know green, black and kalamata, but there were lots of other sizes and options here.

We also found a very sizeable olive oil store.  We decided to purchase several sample size bottles of infused oils. 

Vegetables.

I was thrilled to find a wide variety of dried fruits (I hadn't found much in the regular grocery stores), and some nuts as well.  We got some fresh dates. 

The market also had some stores with prepared food, including empanadas and wide variety of 'rolls' of some kind with meats and cheeses in some kind of breaded meal coating.  I got one of each to try, but when  David's backpack was stolen, the thief got this part of our lunch.