Let There be Food. . . and Flowers

Day 5 started so early it was still dark out. An early morning drive to Rungus Market went by quickly, or maybe I dozed off. Anyway, we arrived and suited up for our tour starting with the seafood

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The seafood goes on sale at midnight and closes up about 6am. We caught it about 5am as they started to clean up. We saw everything from trout to eels, snails to crabs, lots of flounder and other delicacies like abalone and these baby octopi.

The sun greeted us with a gorgeous show as we emerged from the chilly fish building. On we went to check out two meat buildings piled high with duck, quail, rabbit, frog leggs, every pig parts sorted by type or hanging in original form, lots of veal and even lamb brain.

Fred was ready to fire up a grill in the parking lot, but there was more to see before breakfast. Cheese was next where a few hundred different kinds are sold in everything from petite  packages to large wheeles.

On to some of the fruit and veg buildings. You can imagine how the pace slowed as we switched from sightseeing mode to evaluating the quality, packaging, and variety of the products many  of us know well. Sweet potatoes grown in the USA were spotted but FL grapefruit were nowhere to be found. Maybe they sold out.

Last on the tour was the flower section. You would know where you are even blindfolded when the fragrance washes over you at the door. Aisle after aisle of every color and kind of flower.

After being tempted by food for the last three hours, everyone was eager to sit down for a diverse and filling breakfast. Plenty of bread, ham, cheese, and red wine in French style with fruits and coffee. Piling back into the bus by 9am it was clear even if the day was over now, this will be a highlight of our trip.