Viale Apollo Archegeta in Giardini, Sicily becomes alive with vendors and buyers every Saturday. From early morning to 1:00 PM the street is lined with wide tables on both sides.
New clothes, shoes, home and kitchen items as well as second hand items are coloring the view and give a variety of options with regard to quality and prices.
This area becomes a magnet not just for locals looking for a good deal but for tourists on a budget as well. At the end of the street are the food vendors and last Saturday I came back loaded with bags of fresh fruits and vegetables. A variety of cheeses and olives, as well as potted plants, are all on display.
There is a bigger market like this in Catania but for Giardini this is good enough. So if you forgot to pack your winter clothes or your hat, or if your socks are too old and your toes are showing through after too much walking, come here and you can find just about anything. You can even have a view of Taormina, right from this street full of vendors.
I enjoyed competing with the locals for the fresh vegetables last week. The two guys serving them were doing a strange dance around the boxes of fresh produce. They served all the customers what they want in an order only they could tell and their dance was interesting to watch. The Saturday market in Giardini is a good place to go and experience another flavor of local Sicilian life.
