Today as promised we will take a picture tour into the Privoz Market. It was said to have began in 1827. It is a buyers paradise and anything (I mean anything) can be found there somewhere…
It seems that the main market is devoted to foods and then as the market grew it encompassed a whole array of other goods and services…
Sveta and I bought: Oranges, apples, spinach, shirts, coats and spices. The spices were the treat for me (You can see a spice stand in the first picture of the gallery.) and this market had huge selections of spices from all over the world. It was an ex-chefs delight. At times there was so many people and stuff to look at that it became overwhelming… 🙂
Part of the charm was how much it was like markets from my youth in America. Where meat, dairy, fruits and veggies were haggled over and purchased from an individual instead of a chain supermarket. Russia has these markets also and that is what makes it fun to shop in Russia…
So while, yes it had its seedy characters (Watch your billfold) and questionable material / food items at times. But the people and experience is part of what makes us human and capable of dealing with the world better than we do in a sterilized inhuman environment…
May we never lose these type of markets to modernization and stigma’s…
Just another reason I love Russia and Ukraine…
Windows to Russia!