Market Day

Every Thursday is Market Day here in Middelburg and we are told it has been that way for hundreds of years. Our Thursdays are dwindling down so I thought I had best try to capture the spirit of the day before we have no more Thursdays here.

Since our apartment is right on the main pedestrian street of town and just down from the market square by about a block, we can begin to hear the bustle of the day by about 9am. The tables are usually set out the night before, but those vendors with their own trucks arrive on Thursday morning. There are always lots of shoppers in spite of the cooler temps lately. You should know that I took these pictures at about 3:30pm, so the crowds had definitely thinned.
I have my favorite man who sells socks big enough for Cory and another who sells tablecloths. There is fabric for sale as well as ready to wear. Most of the fabric is on bolts and there is everything from flannel to wool to lace.

There are leather vendors and folks who sell things for bikes--parts, baskets, horns, etc.
There are folks who sell cosmetics and antiques just like Shipsewanna.

There folks who see plastic tablecloth material by the yard and beach towels. Smurfs and Cars are a big deal here.

 Then the food--the guy who does a terrific business with eggrolls,

 and eggs and cheese,

and all sorts of nuts,

the fruit and vegetable vendors,

and fish that is raw, smoked or cooked and ready to eat.

And don't forget the people who make and sell stroopwaffels--yummy! They also sell Belgian waffles--plain or dipped in chocolate.

Everywhere you look people are eating something--stroopwaffels, fried fish, French fries, sandiches (brodjes), or ice cream.
There are also the bulbs of every kind...

On my way to and from the market I saw shop windows that have some interesting decorations. Several have Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet, but this one has speculaas and mandarin oranges. Even the mannequins have parts of cookies in their hands. And it's all displayed on hay for the horse I think.

Then while shopping in the stores I found the ultimate toy--a Sinterklaas Playmobil set with Zwarte Piet, the bag of toys, the white horse and all in a boat from Madrid.

There are chocolate letters in nearly every store--dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate!

And to top it off, the street organ was playing Dutch Christmas songs nearly all day. The man on the right side in the front without a hat is the man who runs the organ. It is named "The Teddy Bear". He has a brass can that he shakes and quite a few people put money in it. I bought a CD of the music today so that I can remember Middelburg and Market day when I'm back in Michigan.