The bourse in Placa Reial

spacehayduke

Hi Folks,
Just back from a Euro visit that included Amsterdam, Barcelona, and the back of behind in Espana. It was recommended to me to visit the 'bourse' that takes place every Sunday morning in Placa Reial in the Gothic quarter of Barcelona. Below are some pics. No slabs, but friendly dealers, everyone was having a great time. They shut down around noon, then the cafes start to extend their table settings farther out from the buildings surrounding the placa. Which of course, fill up quickly as everyone wants a break from the heat and humidity with a nice drink and/or tapas. We also had a nice dinner with friends one evening in Placa Reial. Great place to visit and possibly pick up a coin or two for a really good price. Maybe not ANA but I think it was worth the 'sacrifice' to be in Barcelona.......

thebeav

That looks pretty nice.
Did you score anything, or find anything useful at all ?

Boosibri

Fun place to visit!

ricko

That is great... a coin show outdoors in Spain.... Thanks for the pictures....Cheers, RickO

amwldcoin

In Kiev Ukraine there is a street the vendors line the side walks. I was surprised to find a coin dealer! I ended up buying a dozen or so of the large old big Russian 5 kopecks from the 1700's. The seller told me were legal to take out of the country.

When I got to the airport when leaving the lady who was our tour guide said they were not legal for me to take and she would keep them for me until they were legal!

I was like H know. I'm standing in the security line where they x-ray your baggage and got a brilliant idea. I took my camera out of the case and put it in my suitcase and put the coins in my camera case. When I stood up after shifting things around there's a security guard standing near me with his arms crossed with that look! YIKES! I get up to the X-Ray and they point at my camera bag directing me to place on the conveyor. I tried pleading film...X-Ray will ruin my pictures! No Go! I tossed it on the conveyor and it was very close to the edge.

Don't know if they couldn't tell or didn't care. I sat in the corner of the airport bar with my fingers crossed big time for over an hour. The Ukranians had a Rep. for grabbing you as you are boarding the plane and causing you to miss your flight. Then you have to pay an outlandish price for a flight home.

Needless to say when the wheels went up on the plane I breathed a sigh of relief! Decided on my next few trips to Russia I would not be satisfying my numismatic itch again!

DrBuster

Was there for xmas, not many coins in the bourse there when we were there, lots of religious stuff and 'antiques' type stuff as it wasn't a 'coin' day. Did pick up a couple things though.

Have had both of those as pocket pieces since I got them. The reale looked like this when I got it over there.

spacehayduke

@thebeav said:
That looks pretty nice.
Did you score anything, or find anything useful at all ?

There were nice entry level coins there, and if one looked hard, nice old ones like Dr. Buster posted above. I was looking for a 18-19th century British penny in F or above, but only had around 45" and did not get to go through all the offerings at all of the tables, so no luck. Everything was in notebooks as shown in the images, so one really had to search.

Best, SH

DrBuster

What else did you do in Barca?? Tour the 2 cathedrals? Picasso museum??

Paradisefound

What a fun bourse out in the sun Thank you for sharing your experience

Bob13

Glad you made it!

savitale

Outdoors coin show in Spain! That's pretty neat.

spacehayduke

@DrBuster said:
What else did you do in Barca?? Tour the 2 cathedrals? Picasso museum??

Did not see the Picasso museum, had a 'Gaudi' full day tour with friends for various Gaudi structures. Tour guide was very knowledgeable. The Sagrada Familia looks great outside, but inside perhaps one of the most amazing spaces every created by man. Wow everyone should see it, and pay up for a guide to avoid the lines and get the story.

We also went to the Castellers of Gracia in the Plaça de la Vila de Gràcia one evening. The castellers are different groups that build human towers. It is quite a show and the intensity from the crowd equals any major sporting event you have even seen if not greater. It can be quite tense as the stories build up. And of course we were at a table drinking and having tapas while the whole spectacle emerged. Good news is the kids they put a 'few stories' up at the top now wear helmets. The group we saw wore indigo blue shirts, came into the square in musical promenade, then began to build.

Best, SH

Justacommeman

Barcelona is one of the top cities in all of the world to visit if you love history, people, wine, architecture, the beach and seafood. I worked out of this area for 7 years off and on. I miss it.

Plus they have a Dunkin Donuts!

Sounds like you had a blast! I’m jealous

m
,

kaz

thanks for your report, sounds like a great visit.

SeattleSlammer

Darn cool stuff.