Monday, June 18, 2012

Visiting Gijon Sunday Market

The Sunday market in Gijon is a great way to spend a few hours. The market was particularly busy this week with people jostling for position in the huge car-park next to Gijon football club. The market keeps relocating but this time it was at the rear of the large sports centre opposite the football ground. It seems as though that will be its home for the foreseeable future.


The market is split into two halves: new and second-hand. We went specifically for the second-hand market as Luis was looking for interesting dishes that could be mosaicked and used for garden birdbaths. We get so many more birds in the garden since we introduced bird baths.

The market was very busy but relaxed. The Spanish don't rush, they stroll, parade and meander.


The second-hand market is like a UK car boot sale but the difference here in Spain is that all the sellers have to be licensed and registered. The tat is much the same as you would find in the UK but prices probably higher. Saying that, haggling needs to be mastered if you are to get a bargain as they can spot you are not a national and will charge you top whack. Luis usually does the negotiations with me prompting him when required.

The last time we came to the Market we bought a wonderful artist's palette that is now displayed in the lounge. At the time I wrote an account of our purchase which can be found here:  The Palette

Sadly on this occasion we didn't find anything but that's the nature of second hand markets I suppose, sometimes you find treasure and sometimes you don't.

We wandered round the numerous other stalls and ended up buying some wonderful sweet deep red cherries at 3 Euros a kilo and some linseed. Clothes seemed to be getting cheaper with lots of buy three offers and other incentives. The range of goods is not as good as some markets but the competition does help with pricing.


The cherries were wonderful...

After we had toured the market we took a long walk through Gijon's main park where there are numerous birds, some free and others in semi-captivity. Then onto the promenade that stretches for several miles in each direction. We walked, we sat and had a picnic lunch, watched the world go by, commented on the sights we saw and discussed a couple of new ideas. There is nothing like a break from the routines of life to get creativity flowing.






No comments:

Post a Comment

Click link to read more.