The market was about one hundred yards long and we made it to the top with only a couple of purchases but then of course we had to turn around and walk all of the way back and run the gauntlet of the stallholders for a second time. Sally seemed to pick up the knack of bartering much easier than I did and I think we bought some tee shirts and a couple of bracelets but to be honest I can’t be absolutely sure.
Posted in Arts and Crafts, Childhood, Europe, Food, Hotels, Morocco, Travel, Turkey, World Heritage
Tagged Culture, Efes Beer, Life, Market bartering, Market Shopping, Markets, Sarigerme, Suntopia Tropical Hotel
Did you spot the odd one out?
According to my stats page a lot of you flirted with this one.
Well done Sheree, Sue and Margaret and Derrick who got it right but for the wrong reason.
European markets. This is the odd one out because it was taken in Leicester in the UK and the UK is in Europe but sadly not in the EU. All of the others are.
I was born in Leicester in 1954 and my parents lived quite close to the city centre. I don’t remember much about it because we left when I was six but I do rather curiously remember the Leicester Market where Mum would go shopping maybe twice a week. I never liked the place.
On my return journey to the city a couple of weeks ago I went looking for Lineker’s fruit and vegetable pitch, Gary Lineker is/was a famous England footballer whose family worked the Leicester market. I asked this man where it was and he burst out laughing. “Been gone for twenty years he said” so, hiding my embarrassment I asked him if I could take his picture instead and he happily obliged.
Posted in Arts and Crafts, Childhood, Food, Growing up in the 1950s, History, Literature, World Heritage
Tagged Gary Lineker, Leicester, Markets, Street Markets
Recently I posted an odd one out challenge (Chains, Ropes and Anchors) and loads of readers begged me to do another one.
Well, actually only two to be truthful. Thanks to both of you.
Anyway, here are some pictures of markets all taken in Europe and all you have to do is identify the odd one out and the clues are in the pictures…
Posted in Europe, Food, History, Literature, Postcards, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Fish Market, Markets, Odd One Out, Vegetable Market
While the current travel restrictions are in place I have no new stories to post so what I thought that I would do is to go through my picture archives and see where I was on this day at any time in the last few travelling years.
On 20th July 2007 I was in the classical Italian City of Palermo in Sicily…
A couple of years ago I suggested to some regular travelling pals that we should go to Naples in Italy for a few days. They were horrified by the suggestion because of the city’s reputation as being rather dangerous. They said that they would prefer to go to Barcelona in Spain even though I pointed out that the Spanish city is the pickpocket capital of Europe and had recently suffered a terrorist attack.
I couldn’t persuade them to reconsider so we travelled to Naples by ourselves. We thought of ourselves as intrepid adventurers stepping out boldly into a dangerous Italian city. For us this completed a trio of visits to so-called risky Italian cities because previously we had stayed in Bari in Puglia which enjoys a similar reputation and Palermo in Sicily, the home of the Mafia.
I have often wondered where all of these crime stories come from and are they true? It seems that they are linked to a web of crime syndicates that operate across all of southern Italy. Sicily has the Cosa Nostra, Naples the Camorra, Calabria has the ‘Ndrangheta and Puglia the Sacre Corona.
In preparing this post I did a little research and was surprised to find that not one of these cities is in the top ten hazardous places in Italy with the top three spots being taken by Milan, Bologna and Rome all of which are all further north.
I think it is fair to say that a tourist is at more risk from a street pickpocket attack than an organised crime syndicate.
A year later we went to Madrid and my friend, who thought Naples was dangerous, had his wallet stolen in the street.
Click on an image to scroll through the Palermo Gallery…
Posted in Europe, Food, History, Hotels, Italy, Literature, Postcards, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Angiolo Mazzoni del Grande, Culture, Grand Hotel et des Palmes, Life, Mafia, Markets, Palermo, Palermo Street Market, Sicily, Via Roma
Vegetable Art – La Rochelle, France
Outside the vegetable stalls offered appetizing produce that was so fresh it still had one foot in the countryside and was all arranged in spectacular displays with an elaborate attention to detail.
Posted in Arts and Crafts, Europe, Food, France, History, Travel
Tagged Culture, La Rochelle, Life, Markets, Photography, postaday, Travel, Vegetable Markets, Weekly Photo Challenge
The main issue that I have with all inclusive hotels or any holiday village complex style hotels is that they are all so similar and although this one was in Turkey it could just as well have been in Spain or Mexico or Bali. A lot of people staying here would go home at the end of the week and tell their friends that they had been to Turkey, which was true, but then again no it wasn’t because in a place like this it is impossible to appreciate or understand the culture of the country.
A narrow graffited lane led from Piazza del Doumo to Piazza Della Erbe where to my horror there were even more market stalls but this was principally a food market with all manner of colourful items on display and I was particularly captivated by the fungi – especially coming from a country where we only eat about four different varieties of equally tasteless mushrooms and think that chestnuts are especially adventurous – because the woodland produce on display here was colourful, pungent, mysterious, dangerous, misshapen and a whole lot more interesting than our ubiquitous tasteless varieties.
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Other Market stories:
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Posted in Arts and Crafts, Food, France, Greece, History, Italy, Natural Environment
Vegetable art – La Rochelle, France
Outside the vegetable stalls offered appetizing produce that was so fresh it still had one foot in the countryside and was all arranged in spectacular displays with an elaborate attention to detail.
Posted in Europe, Food, France, History
Tagged La Rochelle, Life, Markets, Photography, postaday, Travel
Have Bag, Will Travel 