Regular contributor Mac ruminates on the world of travel & some of his adventures along the way

This time round he consider where to find the best flea markets, via Gigi Guerra and Rachel Mosely, September 2009 in budget Travel Publication:-

MEXICO CITY – La Lagunilla

Cuban antiques and centuries-old religious relics can be snapped up for practically nothing at this 500-year-old Sunday market that is, inexplicably, still under the radar for most out-of-towners.

When: Sundays

MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY – Tristán Narvaja

Beneath the chaos of this Sunday event (think caged tarantulas and blaring music) lies order: Each corridor has a distinct specialty, like records, used books, or leather goods—three of the market’s strengths.

When: Sundays

MOSCOW – Izmailovsky Market

The hokey onion-domed façades on this suburban weekend market belie the genuine treasures you’ll find here. Look for nesting matryoshka dolls, Soviet military regalia, and handmade Central Asian suzanis and rugs.

When: Saturdays and Sundays

PARIS – Porte de Vanves

Less touristy and much more affordable than the famous Clignancourt market, this weekend affair is stocked with choice tabletop pieces (like Pernod carafes and bistro ashtrays) worth digging for.

When: Saturdays and Sundays

SÃÆ’O PAULO – Praça Benedito Calixto

Founded in 1987 by artists looking to sell their work, the Saturday Praça Benedito Calixto market has evolved to comprise an even split of the new and the old; delicately fashioned porcelain dishware sits next to piles of retired metal store signs.

When: Saturdays

ATHENS – Monastiraki Market

No Sunday in Athens is complete without a stroll through the narrow passageways of Monastiraki, where you can dig through piles of old coins and hand-painted icons—all with the Acropolis in view.

When: Sundays

BEIJING – Panjiayuan Market

The doors open at 4:30 a.m. at the chaotic weekend version of this daily bazaar, with more than 3,000 stalls displaying jade jewellery, ceramic teapots, and Mao posters.

When: Daily

BERLIN – Flohmarkt am Arkonaplatz

The stately canvas-and-wood stalls lining this square each Sunday house an assortment of melamine tableware, textiles with geometric patterns and glazed mid-century stoneware.

When: Sundays

BUENOS AIRES – San Telmo Market

Many of the embroidered textiles, estate jewellery, and chandeliers at this Sunday market in the city’s tango district were brought over by the waves of Italians who immigrated to Argentina in the past 150 years.

When: Sundays

CAIRO – Khan el-Khalili

Since the late 1300s, these dusty stone corridors have hosted an array of merchants with finely honed specialties: copperware, gold jewellery, and carpets, in particular. Now, new pieces mix in with antiques.

When: Daily

LISBON – Feira da Ladra

Known as the “Thieves’ Market,” it dates back to the 12th century, when stolen goods made up the bulk of the stock; today’s (legit) merchandise, set out Tuesdays and Saturdays, includes old cameras, stamp collections, leather-bound books, and transistor radios.

When: Tuesdays and Saturdays

LONDON – Portobello Road Market

The more than 1,000 dealers snaking up Notting Hill’s main thoroughfare every Saturday are (unofficially) divided by theme: Upper end for furniture and household wares and the lower for clothing and jewellery.

When: Sundays

From Hubert Burgess:-

I will be travelling to Sydney AUS. from the 7th October till the 27th to the World Masters Games; any suggestions on reasonable accommodations?

Email your suggestions to hubertburgess19@gmail.com

If you enjoy writing and travelling, why not write for the free Globetrotters eNewsletter! The Ant would love to hear from you: your travel stories, anecdotes, jokes, questions, hints and tips, or your hometown or somewhere of special interest to you. Over 14,000 people currently subscribe to the Globetrotter eNewsletter.

Email The Ant at theant@globetrotters.co.uk with your travel experiences / hints & tips / questions. Your article should be approximately 1000 words, feature up to 3 or 4 jpeg photos and introduce yourself with a couple of sentences and a contact e-mail address.

Next award – the closing date for the next award is 31 October 2009, so get those applications in as soon as you can !

Background – A member of Globetrotters Club and interested in winning a £1,000 travel award ? Know someone who fits these criteria ? We have up to two £1,000 awards to give out this year for the best independent travel plan, as judged by the clubÂ’s Committee.

See the legacy page on the clubÂ’s web site, where you can apply with your plans for a totally independent, travel trip and we’ll take a look at what your proposing !!

· From Paul Roberts:-

For commercially based assistance on visa & immigration related issues for those who want to move, travel and work overseas – www.globalvisas.com

· From Dick Curtis:-

Not strictly travel related but fun from a GT stalwart of many years – http://www.rugbynetwork.net/main/s96

Need to convert a currency ?

Take a look at The Globetrotters Currency Converter – get the exchange rates for 164 currencies The Globetrotters Currency Cheat Sheet – create and print a currency converter table for your next trip.

Regular contributor Mac ruminates on the world of travel & some of his adventures along the way J This time round he answers some questions on his various travels and what has stuck in his mind along the way…

This time round he visits Tonga via reading – You Cant Get There From Here : A Year On The Fringes of A Shrinking World by Gayle Forman. Below are some of the highlights that caught his attention…

According to the larger world Tonga is always mid eighties and partly cloudy even when the rain is hammering the palm trees and the waves are pushing twenty feet. Tonga tags itself as “The Land Where Time Begins” being the first nation falling west of the international dateline. A more appropriate moniker would be “The Land That Time Forgot”

English is widely spoken in Tonga but many Tongans openly dislike Westerners When Nick and I had taken an exploratory bike ride around the island a few days earlier every other person we passed had yelled Falangi, a derogatory term meaning “white person. A few kids had even thrown rocks.

Quite a few Tongans I had met treated me with cool disdain or even outright aggression an anti Westernism I might have expected but actually would not experience in places like Cambodia or Tanzania. In those countries there was ample reason to hate Westerners – war, colonization, silly tourists with corn rowed hair. But Tong had none of that. It is the only South Pacific nation never to have been colonized and is one of the few Polynesian islands that is rarely visited by tourists

Ikale beer in Tonga – I turned right at the expat hangout of choice the Billfish Bar cutting through the suburbs full of wood houses each with a pig or two rooting in the yard. Tongans keep pigs like Americans keep dogs except they eat them.

Enuff, Enuff. Mac

If you enjoy writing and travelling, why not write for the free Globetrotters eNewsletter! The Ant would love to hear from you: your travel stories, anecdotes, jokes, questions, hints and tips, or your hometown or somewhere of special interest to you. Over 14,000 people currently subscribe to the Globetrotter eNewsletter.

Email The Ant at theant@globetrotters.co.uk with your travel experiences / hints & tips / questions. Your article should be approximately 1000 words, feature up to 3 or 4 jpeg photos and introduce yourself with a couple of sentences and a contact e-mail address.

Update – at the June London branch meeting it was happily announced that active member Dan Bachmann was the lucky winner of the first travel award in 2009.

Congratulations Dan – I was at the meeting and saw how surprised & happy Dan was to receive the award.

As related in the club’s members’ newsletter Globe, the award helped fund his trip, The Forgotten Tribe. In his application he said: On the far corner of Uganda there awaits a group of people who, through a twist of fate, are misunderstood and despised. I now have a chance to make contact with. I can’t think of an experience that will be so memorable.”

Next award – the closing date for the next award is 31 October 2009, so get those applications in as soon as you can !

Background – A member of Globetrotters Club and interested in winning a £1,000 travel award ? Know someone who fits these criteria ? We have up to two £1,000 awards to give out this year for the best independent travel plan, as judged by the club’s Committee.

See the legacy page on the club’s web site, where you can apply with your plans for a totally independent, travel trip and we’ll take a look at what your proposing !!