Monastiraki is more than a flea market, it is an institution, a tradition older that modern Greece itself. If the Gods of commerce owe to have a house, then this is it! Everybody can find something to buy here. From the tourists that fancy kitsch and flashy souvenirs, to the collectors of old vinyl records and from teenagers searching for the appropriate t-shirt for the next party, to the sophisticated metropolitan looking for the ideal vintage bureau to fill the space under the eastern window of the living room, they all come at one point here in quest of something!
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Although I didn't want to buy anything, I went for the fun of it and of course to take some pictures to share with you!
Since this is the city I grew up and lived most of my adulthood, I have many memories of this place. It is always nice to come back to familiar spots. Even nagging about the overwhelming increase of bad taste and trash products sold in huge quantities, is almost pleasant :)
Despite of the industrialisation of the products, the spirit of the flea market is still alive and I guess that it will take a few more generations before it starts resembling a shopping mall or whatever will be the shopping trend by then.
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Till then people will come and go searching for that one item that will make the difference, in a beautiful blend of different eras, mismatched styles and contrasting mindsets.
An erratic chaos that makes perfect sense (at least to myself) :)
This is my contribution, for this week, to the #MarketFriday community, initiated by @dswigle (get well soon Denise) but it is also part of a much wider walk that I wrote about, a couple of days ago. If you missed that post, you can find it here.
Have a great weekend ahead!
Thank you for reading and if you want to know more about me you can check out my introduction post.
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