The last Sunday of every month in Milan is cause for a sprawling antique market along the Grand Canal. It's a great opportunity to people watch and take in a healthy helping of second-hand smoke. And gelato. Always gelato.
The good thing about the canals this weekend is that they are filled with water again. We went to the market last month and there was a lack of water and as a result a lack of a certain amount of charm. The canals without water are muddy troughs that happen to pass under bridges, but the canals with water are honest to goodness canals. The stuff of postcards and photographs. And the perfect spine for a long line of merchants and their wares.
The market has a little bit of everything. Clothes. Jewelry. Furniture. Clocks. Lewd artwork. Mod chairs. And more. It's nice to stroll along taking in the tables covered with stuff, while also trying to keep an eye on the ground where the uneven stones and tram tracks could, possibly, be the source of a walking incident.
I'd imagine that with proper Italian skills there is bargaining to be done. And there are certainly clothes to try on. There are small dogs to keep from fighting one another. And naughty little items to turn away from quickly. It's one big happy canal-side shopping adventure.
Did we buy anything? Try on anything? No and no. But we also did not break anything and did not fall into the canal. It was a good day.
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