"Fish Markets' seems a very random title for a blog...it is but yesterday's random picture from Portugal awakened a memory. My first experience with a fish market was in Olongapo, Philippine Islands in 1962. Our ship, the USS Princeton, an aircraft carrier, was anchored in Subic Bay. On weekend evenings Marines from the ship were assigned to walk shore patrol in town. Issued white helmets emblazoned S P, white ammo belts with no ammo and Billy Clubs we patrolled the streets. What exactly we could have done in an emergency wasn't clear. Perhaps just the presence of several pairs walking the area had some effect.
It was while walking shore patrol that I encountered my first fish market. The smell of fish reached us first before we saw the actual market. Olongapo, being in the tropics, the market was outdoors. With its proximity to the sea, fish and seafood is huge in the Philippines. The market, too, was huge with a wide variety of fish and other sea food. Since that initial exposure to a fish market, I've visited many others in Sout East Asia and Europe.
The largest fish market I've seen was in Lisbon, Portugal. That's not surprising given Portugal's orientation to the sea. Lisbon's temperate climate dictates an enclosed market. There are several seafood markets in Lisbon but, I assume, we saw the largest all under one roof.
And to think, I'm not allowed to eat fish or seafood! Here's a personal story about that. When I first began living with "my" Thai family I said, "I don't eat fish or seafood." It was best to be clear about that from the beginning. I'd been staying there for years when Met, wife and mother, came home with a large mess of fresh calamari. Daughter Poe said, "Mom he doesn't eat seafood." "Oh" she said, "I though he only didn't eat fish." They enjoyed the calamari.
Takk for alt,
Al
No comments:
Post a Comment