Welcome

Welcome to our photo reports on markets we have visited during our travels over the last five years. We hope that they convey the flavors and images of the markets and that you will enjoy them.

The Saturday Market in Santa Barbara

The Saturday Market in Santa Barbara takes place in a parking lot a few blocks off of downtown. Linda and I went on Saturday, February 8, 2014.

 

The Yobuko Morning Fish Market

The Yobuko Morning Fish Market is one of the largest in Japan despite its isolated location on a peninsula in northwest Kyushu. Kent, Linda and I went on March 27, 2013.

La Boqueria, Barcelona

The Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria has its origins in a market established in 1217. The actual structure dates from 1853, with the roof added in 1914. It is now both a thriving market for Barcelona food shoppers and a major tourist attraction, probably the most photographed market in Europe.

Il Mercato di Porta Palazzo, Torino

The Porta Palazzo Market is one of the largest and oldest in Europe. It was decreed to be the only produce market in Turin in 1835. The open air section covers the large Piazza della Repubblica just outside the historic center of the city. Around it are enclosed buildings for butchers, bakers etc. Linda and I went in the morning of October 6, 2011, starting our visit to the city.

Der Naschmarkt, Vienna

The “Naschmarkt” has been Vienna’s main market since the eighteenth century. It now has 123 stands selling a wide variety of foods. There are also quite a few restaurants. Linda and I went on the morning of September 14, 2011.

The ByWard Market, Ottawa

The ByWard Market, or Marché By in French, was founded in 1827 by Colonel By of the Royal Engineers, who supervised the building of the Rideau Canal connecting Ottawa to the Saint Lawrence River. It is located in the district around the Notre Dame Cathedral, the traditional center of French and Irish life in Ottawa. Linda and I visited it on July 22, 2011.

Paloquemao Market, Bogotá

On February 12, 2011, Linda and I went to the big, crowded Paloquemao Market in Bogotá with Judith, with whom we were staying. It has four sections: the flowers are outdoors; fruit and vegetables are in big covered spaces; the meat and the fish are both in areas with refrigerated lockers and displays.

The Central Market, Budapest

The morning of September 28, 2010, Linda and I walked down the full length of Váci Utca, which was Budapest’s largest and most fashionable shopping street from 1810 to 1850 and even later.

The Omi-cho market, Kanazawa

The Omi-cho market in the middle of Kanazawa has been established since the middle of the seventeenth century. In 2009 a new building was built and the old stalls scrapped. Linda and I went for a visit with Noriko on April 15, 2010.

The Outer Market at Tsukiji

On April 9, 2010 Linda and I walked around the outer market next to the enormous Tsukiji Fish Market with our guide Yumi. This outer market sells retail to anyone and is quite popular. While fish is the star attraction, it represents less than half of the total stalls, but almost all of them are related to cooking and eating. There are also some sushi restaurants.

The Tsukiji Fish Market

Tokyo’s Tsukiji wholesale fish market is many times larger than any other fish market in the world. It has three main functions. There is a tuna auction most mornings at 5:20 where mostly frozen and some fresh whole tuna carcasses are auctioned off. There is a loading area where buyers can load their trucks and there is a market where 900 licensed wholesalers sell fish to retailers, restaurants etc.

The Spice Market, Istanbul

On May 21, 2009, Linda and I started out on foot from our hotel The Four Seasons Sultanahmet. We walked west through a mixed commercial and residential neighbourhood, where a few blocks still had some old charm.

The Xochimilco Market

On February 19, 2009, Ruth, Linda and I went to Xochimilco, the town south of Mexico City famous for its canals and floating gardens. Unfortunately these are not what they used to be and so we skipped them. We were there to see the Mercado Xóchitl. As we arrived in the town center, we heard the loud booms of rockets going off, which Ruth said announce one of the many neighborhood festivals and parades.

Zihuatanejo Market

On February 15, 2009, we went to the market in Zihuatanejo on the west coast of Mexico. There is a large covered market which spills out onto the surrounding streets. It was very crowded on this Sunday morning.

Zihuatanejo Fish Market

On Sunday, February 15, 2009, I went to the market in Zihuatanejo with Judith, Linda, Dixie Lee, Jim, Dinah Sue, Roy Ann and my brother Barney. We passed the little fish market covered with canvas by the beach where the fishing boats come in with their catch. Zihuatanejo has a lovely protected harbor and has been a major fishing center for centuries.

Il Campo de’ Fiori, Rome

When we used to go to Rome regularly, about twenty years ago, we would always spend time at the Campo de’ Fiori, the main market in central Rome. It had everything one could want: fabulous history, beautiful produce, friendly ambiance. It was the essence of picturesque without being kitsch. So naturally we were eager to go back this trip even though it was the middle of winter and we had heard about its decline etc. The morning of January 13, 2009 was cloudy and cold, threatening rain, but we went anyway.

Singapore food stalls

Linda and I arrived in Singapore in the early evening of February 22, 2008. After checking into the Marina Mandarin Hotel, we went out onto the nearby Esplanade, next to the Performing Arts Center, to the food stalls.

The Fremantle Market

On February 22, 2008, Linda and I went to the Fremantle Market, open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays only.

The Salamanca Market, Hobart 1

If you are planning a trip to Tasmania, be sure to include a Saturday morning in Hobart. The market, which takes over Salamanca Street, between the old sandstone warehouses and the port, is fabulous. There are over 200 stalls selling Tasmanian products of all types. Food is of primary importance, of course. That is what I’ll show in this post. Another will show the wide variety of other offerings.

The Salamanca Market, Hobart 2

The fabulous Saturday Salamanca Market in Hobart has a wide variety of stands mixed in with those selling fresh local produce which I showed in the first post. There are also street musicians out to make a few dollars or to attract business to their friends’ or families’ stands. Enjoy the show as we did on February 9, 2008.

The Fox Farmer’s Market, Sydney

The former Royal Agricultural Society’s Sydney Showgrounds have been developed into the Fox Movie Studios by Rupert Murdoch. One segment of it is a retail and entertainment area where a farmer’s market is held each Wednesday and Saturday. Sue took Linda and me there on February 6, 2008. Afterwards we took our purchases back to Sue’s house and made lunch.

The Sydney Fish Market

On February 5, 2008, Sue took Linda and me to the fish market in Sydney. It was late morning and the wholesale portion, to which we could not be admitted anyway, was long over. But there are several retail shops and quite a few stalls of prepared fish and seafood and takeway dishes. As it was a drizzly day, there were few people at the outside tables, but there were many buyers inside on this early day of Chinese New Year.

The Chinese food market area, San Francisco

On January 26, 2008, I walked around the Chinese food market area up the hill from Chinatown around Stockton Street in San Francisco.

The Saturday Farmer’s Market at the old Ferry Building, San Francisco

On January 26, 2008, Linda and I went to the famous Saturday Farmer’s Market in and around the old Ferry Building at the Embarcadero at the end of Market Street in San Francisco. Inside the building contains many food shops and restaurants which are open daily. I had feared that the stalls and tents outside would not be active on this winter day with rain threatening, but there were plenty of farmers and other vendors with products which grow in the Northern California winter: many kinds of root vegetables, greens, cabbages, late fruit etc.

The wine fair in Cagnes-sur-Mer

This fair used to be called the Salon des Vignerons. Twice a year small winemakers from all over France would set up their tasting stands at the horseracing track of Cagnes-sur-Mer, west of Nice. Now in its sixteenth year they have been joined by so many producers of other good things to eat that the name has been changed to the Salon du Palais Gourmand.

Eataly, Torino

On October 24, 2007, The New York Times reported that Eataly would soon be opening at 18 West 48^th Street in New York. So on October 31, Linda and I went to check out the original, which claims to be the “world’s biggest food and wine market.”

via Vittorio Emanuele II, Alba

Our favorite shopping street anywhere is the via Vittorio Emanuele II which cuts through the center of old Alba. Its history and charming relaxed ambience combined with outstanding merchandise, particularly in food and wine, are unique. Linda and I went back to it again on Tuesday, October 30, 2007.

The Saturday market in Arles

Every Saturday morning there is an enormous market on both sides of the Boulevard des Lices, the broad tree-lined street which forms the south border of the old city of Arles.

The market in Ventimiglia, Italy

On September 6, 2007 Linda and I went shopping in the market of Ventimiglia, across the border in Italy. This market has more and better vegetables and fish than what we find on the French side. It also illustrates Jean Cocteau’s quip that the French are Italians in a bad mood.

Kuznechny Market – St. Petersburg

On June 16, 2007, Linda and I visited the large, covered Kuznechny Market in a residential neighbourhood near the Dostoyevsky Museum.