Yesterday I went back to the viveros to 1) find out the name of my mystery plants and 2) get some baby cacti for the bathroom. Nog and I took the rental bikes and when I stopped to take a photo of the entrance I noticed for the first time that it was called Casa Batlló, just like my favourite house in Barcelona.

As soon as I walked in the woman who sold me the Portulaca (which is indeed its proper name, and does not start with a ‘b’) looked up from cleaning a window and said to me by way of a greeting – “It was an orange one!”. Ha! And I told her the second ‘yellow’ one she’d chosen for me also turned out to be orange and we had a good laugh. Guess you had to be there. Anyhow, I then asked about some baby cacti and chose three – again, one euro each. Weirdly, the man who showed me the cactus section (I think the husband of the woman I’d been talking to) also showed me a type that he said people buy to put next to their computers because they absorb static or something? A quick google has come up with this. Maybe I’ll get one next time. Meanwhile, here are the three I bought (well, two cacti and a succulent) …

Afterwards I wandered around the viveros looking for gatitos and found way fewer than on my previous two visits (figures, since I wanted to take pics of them). And it turned out that the proprietors were also camera shy – a real shame because they were both so charming and would have made for a great photo together with their plants and cats. Perhaps I’ll be able to convince them next time (I have a feeling I’ll be going back again).

Below are a few pics showing the general ambience of the place, including a few cats…

(click on photos to enlarge)

near the entrance

a pretty corner

this green-eyed beauty was very affectionate

siesta

you can see the old city walls at the back of the garden

“take a goddam picture why doncha?”

striking a pose

little tabby and green-eyed black beauty together