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Yes! This is the feeling I got when walking through the Thursday market in Rethimno. Yes, because when you think Mediterranean you think colors, freshness and buzz. And this what I experienced.

A rainy day

No a good start of a day when you do vacation on Crete: gray clouds and increasing amounts of rain. But this cannot stop a market aficionado, better get wet than missing a chance. And it was worth it, as there were a guy selling cheap umbrellas and friendly vendors with their large enough marquees.

Colors

Stepping around some water peddles I came across approximately 60 stalls each with its own small truck in the back with replenishment. It was a feast for the eyes, everywhere local produce of the season in all their colors: tomatoes, peppers, grapes, beans, apples, pears, leaves, okra, clementines, potatoes, nuts, beets and much more. I saw freshness everywhere, and the produce were not standardized and photo perfect as what I am used to find in supermarkets. It was great to see that the produce had their own personalities aka. shape, color and size, their roots certainly have touched some real soil. Nothing seemed to be coming from a wholesale market. I saw apples which the size of apricots, and they had their distinct taste. Just great to see, smell and eat that.

No butchers by the way.

Buzz

This market does not focus on products for tourists. Certainly, there was nicely packaged olive oil, herbs and honey available, ready to bring back home on a plane, but this was something everybody bought anyway. The market was clearly made for local consumption, people were walking around selecting their fresh produce by themselves, the mostly large quantities handed to the trader to be weighted and paid for.

The crowd was astonishingly relaxed and even the partly heavy rain die not create a bad mood. As the vendors had large marquees, there was shelter for some people at least. The umbrella vendor probably had a good time as well.

Still what impressed me most, is that the people really looked at the produce, smelled and touched it before making their own selection. This to me is a sure sign that people still have and interest in good food, and put a high value into tasty, satisfying meals.

Viagra

Quite a few vendors were able to speak at least a few words in English making interactions possible, something I really love about markets, they produce nice little stories and memories which pop up from time to time when I am day dreaming.

This way I learned about the Cretan Viagra. “I got one son from it!” the cheese monger said, “it is Viagra” pointing at the cheese I could not identify and looked a bit different from the others (check picture gallery). “One son!” he said again. With a help of a friend he explained me that this hard cheese was made from goat milk and ripened in a kind of goat skin bag. A must buy, as it is so rare to see. I still have some at home, easy to preserve. Unfortunately I forgot its name. Anyway, the aroma is intense as can be expected from an aged cheese, yet does not remind too much of goat or goat skin. And I cannot confirm the Viagra part of the story.

Buying as a tourist

When I am visiting markets outside my own city, I often buy produce like sausages, cheeses etc. because of easy transportation and no need of refrigeration. As I wrote after my visit at the Fresh Market in Bratislava: it is a mistake. First of all it narrows down the experience and secondly the opportunity to expand aroma knowledge.

This time I took besides cheese, nuts, almonds and herbs some grapes, apples, mandarins, yogurt in small quantities. It was worth it and it was possible to consume it without refrigeration. Okay, I had to hurry up a bit.

Many tourists on Crete like the market hall in nearby Chania (see my post). It has a wonderful architecture, there are some nice places to sit down and eat small dishes. But it has transformed over time and the availability of local flavors has decreased. I had more fun at the Rethimno market as it represented to me more of Crete “authenticity” or at least what I believe it to be. The market was not fully of street food stalls, just a few pies were available, enough to get a taste, while not having the feeling ot be at a food court.

And despite the rain I had a good time. What do I want more?

All in all: a traditional Mediterranean outdoor market keeping up a great local experience in the middle of a tourist region.

A little link list:

• A short post with a map on other markets on Crete Island
• Another culinary must see in Rethimno: one of the last hand made filo dough makers
• A nice overview on the different Cretan cheeses with pictures & names
• And a little hint from the BBC on foods not to miss on Crete

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I love lists, all sorts of lists, no idea why. And I like good blog posts on food & farmers’ markets. An ideal combination to publish a list of the European capitals and their markets. Why European capitals? Well, I live on this continent and this way I get to know it a bit better.

This list will grow and get better over time. I am happy about any suggestion or hint – contact me on Twitter: @askans

Enjoy!

The European countries, their capitals & markets

Albania – Tirana

• I did not find a lot, therefore I have to promote my own post: the new Bazaar in Tirana – I was impressed that they were selling open tobacco just like any veggie

Andorra – Andorra la Vella

• Not yet

Austria – Vienna

• The Naschmarkt on this site during daytime & nighttime – during the day for shopping at night for entertainment and dining – a cool combination
• The Naschmarkt by epicures with lots of pictures- a little bit of history and a wide choice of produce and artisan products – from exotic to local
• The official English website
• The Rochus Market which has a great wine pub at night

Belarus – Minsk

• The Komarovski – market hall seems to be the place of attraction. The post from food.artkopilka.ru is in Cyrillic but has many good pictures. Like in many Eastern European countries there is clear structure and order in this market hall.

Belgium – Brussels

• Why waste annual leave, the blog with an overview on the Brussels weekend markets
• ottsworld.com gives a portrait of the Midi market, which has lots of Arabic influences – incl. a video

Bosnia & Herzegovina – Sarajevo

• From adventures in Bosnia an overview on food & markets in Sarajevo
• And here a short post on the Markale market & market hall from greengopost.com

Bulgaria – Sofia

• A panaroma picture from 360cities.net
• The Women’s market (Jenski Pazar) by Sofia Travel Guide

Croatia – Zagreb

• The markets of Zagreb are very well organized and have almost a “branded” appearance as they all use standardized umbrellas etc. The Dolac market is the most known one and has also a great fish market.
• Dolac market, the Dolac fish market, Kvatric market and the Trešnjevka one on this site
• Dutched Pinay travels a lot and takes nice pictures from markets – in this case Dolac market
• tatjanapasalic.com is a well known personality in Croatia: model, TV presenter & more – here she blogged on Kvatric market

Cyprus – Nicosia

• An overview with nice pictures on farmers’ markets in Cyprus incl. Nicosia by Afrodites kitchen

Czech Republic – Prague

• In the the touristic city of Prague farmers’ markets are supposed to be on the rise.
• An overview of the markets from prague.tv
• Past, present & future of the big Holešovice market from expats.cz
• My own post

Denmark – Copenhagen

• From eatyourcity.ca an introduction & pictures on the Torvehallerne & Israels Plads markets
• An introduction for tourists to the Torvehallerne food market by a food awakening
• The official site of the Tervehallerne market

Estonia – Talinn

• A list of the markets in the city from @VisitTallinn

Finland – Helsinki

• Pearlspotting describes the Market Square by the sea and the old Market Hall
• Dutched Pinay is always a good source – Kauppatori Market Square – Hietalahti Market Square – Hakaniemi Market Square

France – Paris

• There is one favourite source for me: Marjorie R. Williams, who wrote a book on the Paris markets and blogs about them
• A nice post on the famous wholesale market Rungis International Market by Cody C. Delistraty

Germany – Berlin

• The past, current status and future of the Berlin Market Halls by @slowberlin. They also posted on the very popular Markthalle IX
• A listing of the Berlin markets by angloinfo.com

Greece – Athens

• As an introduction my post on the Central Market – A must see for meat & fish lovers
• Matt Barrett has written several picture intense posts – The Central Market – an overview on some markets

Hungary – Budapest

• My post on the Central Market Hall, which has a splendid architecture
• A post on the Central Market Hall with many pictures from alwaystravelicious.com

Iceland – Reykjavík

• Not yet

Ireland – Dublin

• The Dublin Diary has a post on the Honest 2 Goodness Farmers Market
• And here my post on the Moore Street Market

Italy – Rome

• A blog specialized on the markets of Rome alone: marketsofrome.com
• The post yourguidetoitaly.com gives an overview in pictures of the markets in Rome
• Forbestravelguide.com is more decriptive

Kosovo – Pristina

• Not yet

Latvia – Riga

•  From Paris Paysanne a nice little post on the Riga Central Market
• And here a big fan of the Riga central market on Pinterest

Lichtenstein – Vaduz

• Not yet

Lithuania – Vilnius

• A little post with pictures on the Kalvarijų turgus market from Ravinder Sehgal

Luxembourg – Luxembourg

• My post
• A list of farmers’ markets

Macedonia – Skopje

• From Macedonia in 91 days a post with tons of pictures and a video giving great insights on the Bit Pazar

Malta – Valletta

•  The Ta’ Qali farmer’s market by Kristin Winet

Moldova – Chișinău

• Moldovan Life describes the Piata Centrala – the main market
• Foodperestroika, a great blog with focus on Central and Eastern European food & cuisine is highly recommended – also the post on Moldovan food

Monaco – Monaco

• Not yet

Montenegro – Podgorica

• A tiny friendly post on Podgorica’s Green Market from Wandering Educators

Netherlands – The Hague

• My own post on the Haagse Markt
• It is supposed to be the largest outdoor market in Europe with 500 stalls: the Haagse Markt as per Theleidener.com
• Local Heart, Global Soul finds the Haagse Markt impressive as well

Norway – Oslo

• From Nordic Nibbler a friendly introduction into the Bondens Marked
• And Oslo has also a market hall – Mathallen – the post from soldrom.com

Poland – Warsaw

• Warsaw’s Saturday Market in Zoliborz by My Travelling Joys
• A short overview on the Hale Mirowskie – the central market hall – from polandculinaryvacations.com

Portugal – Lisbon

• travel.sketch.write posts about the Mercado da Ribeira, which seems to be the most famous market in Lisbon
• The Mercado de Campo de Ourique is described by Portugal confidential as hip and urban

Romania – Bucharest

• My post on the Piata Domenii market
• Beautiful pictures from Oana Hogrefe on a unknown market

Russia – Moscow

• A nice introduction into the Moscow markets by The Moscovore
• A photo essay in Russian on Preobrazhensky Rynok farmers market by DaryaDarya – courtesy of where.cheap-moscow.com

San Marino – San Marino

• Not yet

Serbia – Belgrade

• A small post with nice pictures on a farmer’s market from Stellar Perspectives
• The Belgrade Green Market by Serbian Culture Shock
• Nataša von Wunderland made an extensive photo tour of the markets in Belgrade

Slovakia – Bratislava

• I had the chance to visit 2 markets: the Trhovisko Miletičova central market & the Nová Tržnica market hall
• Basic information about the markets in Bratislava from bratislava.info
• A post from daytripper.sk which characterizes the market hall very well
• A post with many pictures from 52 weeks in Slovakia
• Different: a fashion shooting at the market from Donna Iveh Fashion Blog

Slovenia – Ljubljana

• The Farmers Market on the Vodnik Square by photojoseph.com
• Meet the Ljubljana market enthusiast on Twitter: @JanaSvenska

Spain – Madrid

• Mercamadrid is the second largest fish market in the world and the largest and the biggest perishable foods market in Europe according to spanishsabores.com She writes also on the Cámera Agraria farmer’s market
• From Citylife Madrid a quick overview on the markets in Madrid
• Wanderwings has some nice pictures on the known Mercado de San Miguel

Sweden – Stockholm

• An overview on the market halls in Stockholm by Real Scandinavia
• A small post on a farmer’s market by Bunny in Stockholm

Switzerland – Bern

• The markets and their opening times by the City of Bern
• From Swiss Mirabelle an overview and some pictures

UK – London

• Of course: Borough market is leading the pack and there is a fairly large number of posts on this market. My current favourite is kind of a love letter to the market from Eat Out of the Box
• A good overview on the London farmers’ markets from the organization called London farmers’ markets
• An overview on the markets in general by the Londonist
• From WhatAWonderfulWorld a nice one on a small market: Maltby Street Market
• Westminster News Online promotes the Food Market at Southbank

Ukraine – Kiev

• From Life in Kiev a nice post on the Besarabsky Market Hall
• From akihart an extensive photo post on Besarabsky market hall
• An extensive overview on the markets by BestOfUkraine

That should be it Europe!?

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MEAT!

FISH!

This is what you get to see in abundance, and only this, when you enter the central market hall (Dimotiki Agora) on Athina street in downtown Athens.

This rectangular central market hall is organized in a sort of layers. On the outside of the building there are many small shops of all kinds. Coming inside you will see only butchers when walking one round in the building. Then heading towards the heart of the building there is only fish vendors. This offering only focused on meat (beef, chicken, sheep, rabbit etc.) and fish is rather unique and reminds more of a wholesale market.

The meat alley has one butcher next to the other with stands all looking alike. Each stand has a glass structure which is cooling room and show room alike. And there is only meat cuts, no sausages or further processed meat besides minced meat. And it is possible to buy all parts of the animals, including feet, heads, intestines, rumina etc. Many of the butchers (male only) have a big wooden bloc in front where they cut the meat in front of the buyer. All the friendly vendors are dressed in a white apron. And when there are no customers around they chat and laugh with each other, giving a sense of community.

In the centre of the market hall are the fish mongers. In contrast to the butchers they do not all wear white clothes. The fish variety is large but not overwhelming , some seafood is available as well. coming from a country further up north, it is always impressive to see squid and octopus as well. This section was quite louder than the meat alley, is fish more inspiring?

On the outside of the building there is a collection of smaller shops with a large variety of offerings: bakery, coffee roasters, dried fruit & nuts, cheese (feta), household tools etc. There it is easier as a tourist to find something to bring home.

All in all: a market hall which caters for daily needs not for tourists. A feast for meat and fish lovers, definitely worth seeing

A little link list:

• Nice blog article with lush pictures from Matt Barrett’s Athens survival guide

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In the old city of Rethimnon on the island of Crete in Greece, in one of the narrow alleys there is in an inconspicuous entrance in a house. And this is a bakery. A bakery that still produces its own filo dough by hand. It is run by an old couple who seems to be doing this business for ages. It is impressive to see them still working at this age with such great care. When I think of filo, I am rather guessing that these days it is produced in a more industrial way similar to puff pastry.

When we went into their bakery, we stepped into a room without windows. The daylight came in through the open door. The couple was just in the process of uncovering the individual filo layers on a very large table, spreading some flour on top of each layer, then stapling it and cutting it into smaller sizes of approximately 50cm and putting it into cardboard boxes. The filo is then used for Baklava style sweets, which can be bought directly in the bakery.

The old couple (George and Kathryn Hadziparshos) has been featured in several papers, magazines and blogs, which are displayed in a folder to be explored by visitors. Still, it is not a tourist show when you watch them working. And they had been very gentle to us.

Again a craft which looks so marvelous and will probably bee hard to find at all in the future.

Update October 2017:

The old couple is still pursuing their craft. That is really amazing. Now they are also supported full time by their son and his children help as well from time to time. And the whole workshop has been renovated. All good news to keep me optimistic for their future.

When we were there on a rainy October day, they were not producing filo dough as the high humidity would have not allowed it to become dry. So they were focusing on working on the threads for the Kataifi pastry. They claim to be the last ones in Greece to produce the threads in a non automated way. After a long pleasant chat we bought some Kataifi and Baklava and it was definitely worth it, it tasted so much better than the other ones we have tried over time.

Go visit them, buy some pastry and your kids will still be able to see such a fine craft being preserved.

Their address: M. Vernadou 30 in Rethymno – some times is written “Manouil Bernardou 30” – type what ever your GPS prefers.

A little link list:

• Nice blog with video from Walkabout Crete
• From the Greek Traveller blog

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The market hall  in Stuttgart / Germany reminds rather a gourmet department store than a classic farmers market. It is certainly due that Stuttgart is a rich city where people (despite their reputation) are willing in that place to spend money for good food. The market hall is located in downtown Stuttgart in the pedestrian zone and constitutes an own block in this area.

The market hall has a strong section of international food from Italy, Greece, Spain & Hungary for example. Still local products play an important role often in a very refined way. Be it Swabian (that’s the “tribe” of the area) ravioli called Maultaschen, regional whisky, meat from local pig breeds etc. This mix of international and local products produces nice contrasts.

It is also easy to find some little treasures: superb filled dates, Kobe beef, dried berberis, whisky based on spelt. And all the other products are usually of high quality so it becomes easy to do shopping when you want to surprise your guest with a gourmet meal full of surprises. Well not all choices are great I have to admit, the cheese selection is nice but not particular.

The stands present their products in a very appealing way, and the very friendly service leads you to spend more than you had anticipated. Well, the reward at home is usually great.

The whole setup of the market hall is focused towards a well-off crowd with a high willingness to pay for good to excellent quality. And some stands have transformed themselves from rustic stands to structures which are much more speciality shop like with a lot of “bling bling”. And therefore the market hall detaches itself from the weekly market outside the building in a drastic way. Not everybody welcomes that move.

The highlights: the stand with the dates, Swabian Whisky, international specialities, local Swabian products of high quality

All in all: a great place for buying food and a feast for the eyes. Worth more than one visit.

A little link list:

• The official site – in German
• A blog entry from the US Army in Stuttgart – obviously in English
• Beautiful pictures from “a cook’s canvas” blog
• A nice panoramic 360 degree photo

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The market hall of downtown Chania on the island of Crete in Greece is cross shaped, almost looking like a church when seen from above. Even looking to the iron construction and the glass of the roof reminds one of a church service.

The mix of stands is quite nice, the focus of the products is on basic foods: cheese, meat, vegetables, olives, fish. It looks like a market hall for locals. The way meat is presented is old fashioned or rather robust: whole chicken, sheep heads, whole rabbits etc. It is for sure not a supermarket presentation. And therefore really interesting.

There is lots of local cheeses, even though the variety is limited and often vacuum packed. Fish looks really yummy and seems to be an important part of the diet. Well, we are on an island.

The market hall is also very tourist friendly. It is easy to find some gifts to bring home, also home made raki, kind of a grappa, meaning that is does not taste like anise as usual in the Mediterranean region. Mix the raki with honey from Crete, it tastes nice. Local herbal tea is also sold in large quantities, people seem to enjoy staying healthy.

There are also some joints in the market hall for lunch, and it can really be recommended. Simple, tasty food and quickly prepared.

All in all: A nice market hall, worth a visit, especially for non-vegetarians.

A little link list:

• The official Chania market hall website
• A short description and pictures of the market hall
• A nice areal picture of the market hall plus additional pictures
• A nice blog entry from eatasyougo.blogspot.de

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