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Casablanca markets and stores

January 9, 2013 in Morocco, Photographs | No comments

As anyone who has read this blog for a while knows, Dan and I are big fans of markets and stores. That is, we like supermarkets and department stores and boutiques and even, occasionally upscale chains–the kinds of stores that can be found in affluent, newer neighborhoods at home and all over the world. But we are particularly fans of the kinds of markets and small stores that can be found in very old neighborhoods and medinas. And to our delight, Casablanca has its share.

Even many of the stores on the streets displayed a sense of rhythm and design.

 

And then there was the big Marche Central, which contains the fish market I talked about yesterday. But it’s bigger than just fish. There’s meat…

(See the cats? There are at least four in this picture. There’s a wonderful mutual tolerance between felines and humans in the markets and on the streets of Morocco.)

…and there are dry and preserved goods…

  

…and of course, beautiful produce in abundance…

  

…all fresh and locally grown in December!

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Casablanca — the fish market

January 8, 2013 in Morocco, Photographs | No comments

Casablanca’s great central food market lies off the lovely Muhammed V Street. And at its very center is a fish market, with dozens of stalls selling this morning’s catch, fresh from the sea.

They were still setting up the morning we arrived. A recently cut swordfish head stood by the entry. Other fish also awaited their artful placement in the vendors’ displays.

 

And I do mean “artful placement.” The stalls that had finished setting up were beautiful.

   

Dan looked at me wistfully and said, “This fish market alone is almost enough to make me want to live in Casablanca.”

 

 

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Cambodia – Phnom Penh’s Central Market

October 31, 2011 in Photographs, Southeast Asia | No comments

The market’s Khmer name, Phsar Thmei, literally means “New Market.” But we call it “Central Market” in English. I don’t know, but I imagine I know, why: Unlike any other market we’ve visited, this one has a clear and unmistakeable center.

Built in 1935 in an art-deco style, the market comprises four wings around a central domed area. Around the market and its wings, ancillary vendors have set up additional stalls, as such vendors will.

The high-value merchandise is located under the central dome, attractively displayed in brightly lit cases.

   

We exited through the “food court,” an area of fast-food merchants, all busy preparing for the lunchtime rush.

   

Yes, that’s a durian that the man is cutting up, the fruit that is famous for a flavor that people who like it adore and for an odor that everyone else can’t stand. It turns out that *fresh* durians like this one don’t smell. I regret not having tasted it.

My favorite part of the market was the part we saw last. Flowers!

 

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Cambodia – Phnom Penh’s Russian Market

October 25, 2011 in Photographs, Southeast Asia | No comments

Dan and I are market junkies. We don’t buy very much. Well, maybe a few silk scarves and wooden cow bells, that sort of thing, only a small smattering of the goods available. Mostly we’re there to absorb the patterns and rhythms of the place. The visual candy. And to experience each market’s unique character.

And so…allow me to present the Russian Market in Phnom Penh, so named in the 1980s when the Russians were the only tourists in town, and this is where they went to find cheap local goods to ship home. And it’s still probably the best place for that kind of thing today, as well as every other kind of merchandise under the sun. And as rich in visual candy as they come.

Here is a somewhat random walk through the market, in one side, through the food court in the middle, and out the other side.

             

 

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Inle Lake – the puzzle

September 15, 2011 in puzzles | No comments

This is really cool…
Click to Mix and Solve

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Mandalay – the market

August 22, 2011 in Photographs, Southeast Asia | No comments

It’s hard to pass by a good market, and Mandalay has the best one so far. It has a main market building, where floor space is at a premium, and merchants stack their wares up high. And ancillary market buildings with narrow aisles. And neighboring market streets. And places that are wide enough that an ad-hoc sort of flea market might spring up.

 

The main building

You can buy pretty much anything here, from traditional herbal remedies to cowbells to clothing, even a hardware store for Dan. The patterns of the intensively arrayed merchandise were dizzying. I liked to photograph them.

             

The ancillary markets

The ancillary markets range in formality but are shopped just as intensively as the main market.

     

    

The flea market

Well, maybe it’s a flea market, and maybe it’s just the low-rent low-overhead section.

 

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Bagan – the market (part 2)

August 4, 2011 in Photographs, Southeast Asia | No comments

Here are a few of the people at the market in Bagan.

    

 

And here are some of the interesting foods that people were selling.

Chiles, ground, dried, whole, fresh…

 

 

 

Dried grains, beans, seeds, lentils, rice…

 

 

 

Er… leaves…

 

 

Dried and fresh fish and all kinds of seafood…

  

 

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Bagan – the market (part 1)

August 3, 2011 in Photographs, Southeast Asia | No comments

Today, we move to Bagan, where there is a lot to see, mostly temples and stupas, all very old. But let’s start with the market. I must confess that Dan and I are market junkies, we and our cameras. And because there is so much to see in the market, this will take two posts, the first for the place itself, and the second for some of the people and the things they sold.

The market comprises two quite separate parts. There is an inner, permanent structure where vendors sell household goods and where a few have set up fast-food stands. Outside of this is an outdoor market where people (farmers?) have come early to sell fresh and dried foods of all kinds.

In the outdoor market, customers hurry to buy their fresh food for the day and go home to cook. The day’s cooking must be completed while the morning is still cool (a relative term here; to us it’s all hot). This is one of the few places in Myanmar where we slow picture-takers were jostled occasionally by a person in a rush.

    

Inside, the physical environment was much more intense, but the shopping less hurried. Everyone was eager to do business with us. “First sale of the day! It is lucky! I give you good price!” Yes, a lucrative sale to a tourist would be a good start to the day, but we can’t do it for everyone. We carefully select one item and drive the bargain we want to achieve. The other vendors are not excessively pushy. Smiles are exchanged. We all understand.

   

  

Below: a traditional apothecary shop. 

 

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