Market Day!

Buonjourno! It's Thursday, which is Market day. Not market like the markets on all the streets that sell various things, but Market like a Fair.

That's right, we get a weekly fair.

Nonagressive driving, a weekly fair, cheap mozzarella? That's right, Italy is looking pretty darn awesome, isn't it?

Our weekly fair is outside the city gates, down in the back parking lot of the Bus Station. It's maybe, maybe a ten minute walk down a really steep hill, and then it's all the knock-off homemade Prada you can carry, as well as homegrown veggies and fruits, sliced meats from butcher shops in RVs, high fashion clothes, shoes, kitchen stuff, jewelry, leather jackets, towels... If you can't get it in Montepulciano, or Montepulciano Scalo (the new town outside the walls) (everything in the walls dates from at least the 1500s) it's going to be for sale at the weekly market. It's a bit like a flea market except everything arrives on fold out robotic vans.

I'm going to take some pictures of it when I run down during my lunch break from classes so in the event you're reading this at 6AM (go back to bed!) when I come back in an hour and update this with pictures and comments about this week's fair.

Edit: After a misadventure on the buses, I'm sad to admit I couldn't get any pics of the fair. I got some vile looks the second I took out my camera. However, today they were selling everything from fresh cheese to veggies to italian leather pumps to chainsaws. I bought a sweater, a really light one; v-neck, dark gray and green stripes, long, 3/4 sleeves.

In Chusi (Que-see), which is where the bus misadventure went off to, also the main train station near here, I saw a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in the window. In Italian. It reminded me that I hadn't seen any bookstores yet. I didn't really expect there to be too many, so I was hoping on this weekend's trip to Rome I'd find one at least.



On the way home I managed to get a pic of Conad; the local Dollar General/Kroger/Walmart which is about the size of a Walgreens at home. It's where you go when you want something that's a little too name brand to be at the streetside markets.

We've got to be at the bus station before 7AM tomorrow. I'm going to bed. Expect a big report on Rome come Sunday night, or Monday- I won't have my computer with me until then.