Mercatino Antiquariato, Piazza San Zeno

I wouldn’t have known about the flea market in and around Piazza San Zeno if I hadn’t stumbled on Verona’s excellent webcams (http://webcam.comune.verona.it/) last night. I checked the cameras this morning to see how early the crowds take over the various places the cameras cover – not as early as 8:30, it turns out – and there, in what had been the empty piazza last night, was a market. I was in luck with my timing: the Mercatino Antiquariato takes place only on the first Sunday of the month.

Getting to San Zeno didn’t take as long as last time because I had the sense to look at a map beforehand and take a direct route, rather than pointing myself towards where I knew it to be and meandering around inexpertly, given my general lack of sense of direction, until it finally took pity and found me.

The stalls fill the piazza and adjoining streets. There’s furniture, clothes, books, old postcards, silver, jewelry, antique machinery, and all the usual bric-à-brac. On one stall, I saw a Canon Canonet Junior, the third of the many cameras I’ve owned since my first at age 8. There was even dancing in the street.

Eventually it got too hot. I watched a small white dog resignedly back itself under a stall while its owner dithered over a purchase. I decided the dog had the right idea, so I came home.Read more