Shopping in Florentine Markets

{ May 2011 - Florence, Italy } 

I love markets, and Florence has so many of them that you will be spoilt for choice! From the famous leather goods, to olive oils and cheeses, you can easily spent lots of time (and money) in the Florentine markets! I only managed to go to three of them during our trip, and I found them to be very different.

Mercado Centrale 

An amazing indoor food market, Mercado Centrale on via dell'Ariento, would be a market that I would love to have near my home. We managed to buy cheese, olive oils and even Porcini mushrooms.

  

Mercato Nuovo

Also known as Loggia del Porcellino (Porcellino means piglet), the market sells leather goods, hand embroidery and souvenirs. The most memorable part was the not-so-little piglet in the front of the loggia. Called the Fontana del Porcellino (fountain of the piglet), the bronze wild boar's nose was rubbed by visitors to bring fortune. Not sure about the fortune, but the piglet's nose was definitely shiny.

  

San Lorenzo Market

Another must-go market is the San Lorenzo Market around the Basilica di San Lorenzo. Did not manage to capture a nice photo because we were too busy shopping and bargaining to buy leather goods. Oops!

So, have fun shopping in Florence!

{ Click here for other travel tales from Italy and a list of my travelogues }