



The market comes to town once a fortnight and takes over the carpark. It's an opportunity to pick up locally sourced meat and vegetables which are unavailable in the large supermarkets. I never seem to get there early enough. By 11am, all the best produce are sold out. I've been told that there's a stall that specializes in Chinese vegetables but the trick is to get there by 8am at the very latest on a Sunday. I was probably an owl in my other life. I suppose I'll have to be desperate. I mean stuck in the desert without water kind of desperate to get there that early. I guess I shouldn't mention it's a 5 minute stroll from my apartment.


When the weather is good, the town center becomes a bustling and vibrant meeting place. The High St is jam-packed with locals and tourists alike all clamoring around various shops and street performances. Over the years, I've become rather adept at maneuvering through crowds and scooters driven by little speedy gonzales.



There's never a dull moment particularly during the spring and summer months where plenty of events take place right on the main pedestrian street. The church grounds become a picnic area where sun bathers gladly lie on tombstones to get a tan. I don't know about you but lying on/near a tombstone is just downright weird. I mean someone's bones are buried underneath.
Oh major yum fest there! I love Chinese vegetables, my sister's husband is Chinese and what a cook he is, when I was young he used to come up and stay at ours and just cook all weekend - possibly we barricaded him in the kitchen!
ReplyDeleteI find it quite comforting to lie on someone's bones/tomb as long as you remember to say thank you, of course.
I'm not the best when it comes to cooking Chinese dishes. May need your BIL to teach me. LOL! I'll remember to say thank you the next time when I accidentally step on someone's tomb.
DeleteI guess I shouldn't mention it's a 5 minute stroll from my apartment. - that just made me guffaw at my desk!
ReplyDeleteoh poor you being subjected to the utter embarrasment of Morris dancing. Now of course back in medieaval times these were danced by young fair maidens and young handsome bucks but now it's just old people and I find it a bit cringeworthy. I kind of like that they're keeping the tradition going but they're just all bit past it. Like, in fifty years if we're doing robot moves.
I walked past a building in London the other day that had a plague on it that said that the site used to be a graveyard that was destroyed by the new railway and so they put all the bones in a vault and put them in the cellar of the building. They're still there. That freaked me out. Imagine working there late at night alone!
Robot moves! This just cracked me up. Is that what it's called? I actually wondered if it was some form of geriatric folk dance! I stay on the other side where there are no tombstones sticking out. You can tell, I'm easily freaked.
DeleteOh my, all that food looks scrumptious! I'm personally a little creeped out by cemeteries. We have one near the office and some coworkers like to go there for picnics. I'm sure it's very peaceful but I think I've watched too many scary movies - LOL!
ReplyDeleteSomeone wrote a book on all the haunted places here. 99% buildings and roads here are haunted! I couldn't close the book fast enough. Say no more. I'd much rather not know.
DeleteWhere is this market? Cemeteries do not freak me out any more. I go for walks in them frequently, with my dog. I don't think the bones mind.
ReplyDeletehiya Rachel, the market's in Hampshire. You're brave!
DeleteLove this genuine post! So nice to see!
ReplyDeletewhat a gorgeous market! Everything looks amazing! Xox <3 hautepinkpretty.com
ReplyDeleteSeems like such a lovely market and town center. I love that they don't only have fresh produce and the like, but the entertainment is also a cool aspect. Sounds like it would be fun! Beautiful photos like always! :)
ReplyDeletexxTheresa
Great pictures! Love how you captured the atmosphere! xx Kayin
ReplyDeletehttp://www.logomania.nl
Gorgeous pictures, I want to live there!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pictures. What a wonderful market to have on your doorstep! Every time I go into York I pass a house which is for sale. It's tiny but it's said to have a skeleton in its cellar - that's what they told me on the York Bus tour! Who wants to live in a house with a skeleton in its cellar - my imagination is vivid enough.. I'd never sleep.
ReplyDeleteI want to move there ASAP!
ReplyDeleteThe markets look amazing. Those cupcakes with the fresh strawberries on top... Yum!!!
ReplyDeletexx Mandi
www.findmeamuse.com
What a beautiful blend of food, produce and culture. Markets are the best place to spend lovely summer days. Have a beautiful week xoxox
ReplyDeleteAh the food looks so fresh and delish! Love the snaps :)
ReplyDeletex Stace
PS. I've got a giveaway happening to win a House of Harlow ring! I'd love for you to enter!
How lucky that this is just a short walk from your apartment! Everything looks so fresh and delicious.
ReplyDeleteso nice to have that market near you, everything looks delicious! i used to live near a market too and i'm pretty much there every weekend!
ReplyDeleteVery beautiful pictures !!
ReplyDeleteIt is nice to have a place to go for fresh local produce and some street art/performance. Here in Dubai nothing like that at all! At least back in Malaysia we have night market, farmer's market and all; in Italy we have morning vegetable market and Sunday market but here, none! Missing all that and your pictures are beautiful, like I was there :) Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteCome see my new post on maxi skirt here:
http://mrsjackofalltradesdaily.blogspot.com/2012/05/3-in-1-maxi-skirt-part-1.html
You always have some wonderfully clear photos! My kids used to go to a nursery school opposite Hyde park called Ravenstone House. it was an old cemetery and filled with gravestones but the bodies had been exhumed...
ReplyDeleteWOW this is amazing! The photos look so good too. I wish I had something like Market Day around where I live...I mean it's pretty easy to find organic, local things around Berkeley and SF. But at my socal home (LA) it's a bit more difficult.
ReplyDelete161cm.com
joanne♥choi
First things first - Sundays are MEANT for sleeping in so getting to the markets at 11am is totally acceptable. If you were to get there at 8am well that just wouldnt be right. I love these photos though - its currently morning here in Aus but I am craving something sweet because of that first photo!! P.s I'm with you 100% - in fact I don't think I could picnic on church grounds knowing there was bones underneath. I can't even walk over 'graves' let alone picnic on them! eek.
ReplyDeleteAnna xo
http://www.lifesshinyprettythings.blogspot.com.au/
Wow, that first shot with the strawberries looks absolutely delicious!! ;-)
ReplyDeleteOh Lordy!!! You are seriously hurting me, because I am on this ridiculous diet called "Wheat Belly" and all the gorgeous things you posted are off limits but thank you for the eye candy nevertheless. What a gorgeous setting and amazing treats...you are a lucky girl!!
ReplyDeleteSo hungry now! x
ReplyDeleteWOW! These images are so vibrant and beautiful! Thanks for sharing!! Makes me want to bake!!
ReplyDeleteA Preponderance of Fashion
Beautiful photos!! You're so lucky the market is so close to you!!
ReplyDeleteHonestly... I feel like I'm there these photos are so alive! Also, am now hungry despite the fact I had a wonderful bowl of fresh pasta for dinner followed by a decadent chocolate cupcake and am about to head to bed because it's 11pm. You made me laugh with your comment about getting up early - I feel the same!
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