Yurtdışında YaşamI'm finally satisfying a long-held dream of living abroad. I started with six months in France followed by two and half years in the Czech Republic. Now, I'm giving Turkey a try.
There are plenty of second hand stores in Prague, but for some reason, the concept of flea markets or yard sales is unknown. Until now, that is: as of this past Saturday, there is now a flea market in Náměstí míru on the 4th Saturday of the month.
It’s rather slapdash, and it remains to be seen if it will really take off:
Well, it’s not quite Advent, but the Advent Market at Náměstí Míru has already started:
The most popular stalls are the ones selling hot wine and sausages:
I’m not seeing a lot of buying going on; most people seem content just to look, at least for now.
The big Advent Market will be at Old Town Square, but that isn’t set up yet.
The bakery on the corner is the one with the longest lines on Sunday mornings: I don’t know that it proves that it’s the best in the neighborhood, but it seems a reasonable proxy.
I’ve been popping in a few times a week to get my lunchtime sandwiches and my Sunday morning pain du chocolat (chocolate croissant) and the occasional loaf of bread. The staff there are very nice and the bread is tasty. French sandwiches are more about the bread than the filling, and I find that suits me well. They also have other savory baked goods, such as quiches, pizza, lasagne, etc., as well as a generous selection of pastries and candies. Fortunately, I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, so I’ve resisted the temptation.
Until today, when I got a millefeuille (AKA napoleon) to go with my lunch. It was beautifully flaky and custardy. There is, however, no chocolate involved, so expect I’ll be able to resume resisting the temptation. Although there’s no shortage of chocolate-rich pastries from which to choose.
Between the time change and the unfamiliar (and uncomfortable) bed, it was nearly noon before I got up.
After getting dressed and finishing my unpacking, my first order of business was to go out to do some grocery shopping. My landlord had given me some brief guidance on shopping, which basically amounted to go left on leaving the building to find a supermarket and go right to find good food. Since I wanted to start with staples, though, I went in search of a supermarket, which I found a few blocks away.
Some of the things that I found: a modest selection of decent looking produce, plenty of cheese, some unappetizing-looking charcuterie, an entire refrigerator section with a dazzling and confusing array of yogurts, some unfamiliar looking cuts of meat and fish, more prepared and frozen meals and salads and such like than I had been expecting, a dozen or more different brands of bottled water, and a generous selection of wine and spirits.
What I didn’t find: do the French not eat oatmeal? What am going to do for breakfast? (For now, I’ve settled for some bananas and randomly selected yogurt, most of which seems to come in cute little tubs holding 125 grams, about 1/3 of a cup, I’d say.) Nor was there much by way of frozen fruit or vegetables.
I also searched for adapters for my computer and travel speakers, but to no avail. Fortunately, there’s an Internet cafe right across the street from me, so I was able to send email off announcing my safe arrival.
