This Happens Every Thursday in the Quiet Town of Sarnano

      Once a week in many of the small towns in Italy a phenomenon takes place. A whole caravan of merchants as well as the local town's merchants set up in the town's piazza and surrounding streets to sell their wares.

     This is not just a day to buy goods, often from Eastern Europe, with their cheap prices, but a community event. The only people missing are the children as they are in school from the hours of 8:00-1:00, the exact time the market takes place. I wonder if that is planned that way. Everyone from the countryside invades the town. People are often more interested in keeping up with the most recent gossip then buying a smoked dried fish or a kitchen utensil.

They convene at the town's coffee bars to swap stories and talk about the great deals they had found.

Usually during the daytime the men are sitting in the bars while the wives slave over their best marinara sauce, coming home only at the two big meals, pranza (lunch) and cena (dinner). But today, on market day, the ladies are regulars.
     You can buy almost everything from fine lace, to your undergarments or your next purse.

It is a cultural experience. Babies are wheeled down the sidewalks and people of all races are welcome. This event today took place in the little medieval town of Sarnano where Lynda and I first experienced the wonders of the weekly market over a dozen years ago. We are bringing home things bought there, as well as some tomatoes and bananas for our Italian cucina.