Porta Portese

Ok, I think this is going to be a marathon post as Porta Portese is to markets what Coles is to the local milk bar. It's in Trastevere which is on the left bank of the Tiber river. The market starts on one long street and then diverges into a maze of tributary streets. To walk past every stall is probably a 5km journey. At the beginning there are lots of cheap Victoria market type stalls selling clothes, shoes, handbags, guns, etc.




And then the stalls selling cheap Indonesian jewellery start to appear, followed by the fake designer goods stalls. And this seems to go on for miles! And just as you start to think that there'll be no fodder for a garage sailor post, you come across this...



and you think, 'that looks a bit interesting'.

And then you see this...



and this...



and this...



here are a couple of close ups...





(ha!)






for when you're looking to add to your silverware collection.




or your collection of gilt baroque mirrors




or some replacement parts for your chandeliers.

There are also some antique furniture dealers - expensive antique furniture sitting in the hot sun!






Here's something I would've liked to have bought



Its a beautiful embroidered silk double bedspread, quite a few rips at the edges. 1000 euro. thats $1627.80! And it's sitting in direct sunlight. He's dreamin'

The market stalls are on either side of the road and the shoppers walk down the centre of the road. But behind the stalls, on the narrow footpaths, the gypsies set up their own alternative market. And it's here where you find the most interesting stuff. It's a true 'flea-market'



note: green sequined thongs.




this guy is selling medication. I wonder where he got that?




I have no idea what this guy was trying to sell from his trolley, I was too scared to get too close.

So this is what I ended up buying. It's not much but it was quite expensive and I'm getting scared about the cost of excess baggage.

A collection of Matryoshka's




I little wooden pineapple




and, my favourite, a plastic pineapple cooking timer.



.