It's our Saturday morning routine:
Get the bags, get some cash, see what's new at the local market.
We were already used to going to the domestic market only once per week. It’s the same system as in Spain. It seems very efficient, saving time and resources for both buyers and sellers.
This is the way outdoor markets work in Greece, especially on the islands and smaller towns. A whole street is blocked for half of the day. Vendors bring their own displays and set up their approx 5 meters of rented place. It’s always the same vendors.
In Lefkada, the outdoor weekly market takes places each Saturday morning in Lefkada Town on A. Katopodi Street. It stays open till around 14.00 I think. But you’d better get there in the morning, as what’s good doesn’t last too much.
On our island, we have around 20 vendors. During Covid lockdowns on the island, the number was half.
Eat what you find. It's seasonal crop only. That's why it's so fresh.
I remember what I was reading about the Mediterranean diet a long time ago. One of the main ideas was that you should eat seasonal vegetables and fruits.
I could never do that back in the city. I couldn’t resist the temptation 🙂
Here, we have no other option but to eat seasonal food. There’s nothing else at the local market. Ok, we have some at the supermarkets, but when it comes to fruits and vegetables we made a promise to ourselves that we’d only buy locally.
This happens because the law imposes it. Only vendors from a radius of I don’t know how many km. from the area are allowed. I guess it’s to give all producers from all over the country, a place to sell.
Anyway, it’s a good thing. Products are always super fresh. Sometimes, I get the feeling they just took it out from the garden. We like choosing the ugliest ones 🙂 They’re closer to nature’s perfect imperfection.
I think we overdosed on Vitamin C 🙂
You find fresh oranges and lemons all year long. They smell, taste and feel fresh. It’s nothing like the oranges I knew back home.
I remember my guy was adding honey to fresh orange juices 🙂 No need to do that here, they’re sweet by default.
We were buying 5 kilos every other week. We both started consuming fresh citrus juice daily. Haven’t caught a cold since ;).
Tasty is an understatement for summer fruits in Greece.
Ok, I’m waiting for this moment the whole year. For about 3-4 months yearly, we find some fruit varieties that are incredibly tasty and fresh. Peaches, nectarines, apricots, melon, watermelon and a few others.
I started making all sorts of homemade jams. They’re unbelievably tasty.
How about the prices?
I’ll let the pictures speak.
Olive Oil. It became vital.
I liked olive oil before living here. We were consuming about 5 l annually. Now, 5 litres will last for maximum of 2 months. It’s vital 🙂
The only thing missing. A tapas bar with cervecitas.
In Span, they have this thing: you go to the local market and as long as you’re there, stay a bit more and have some cervesitas and tapas.
We loved going to the weekly market. A couple of tapas with boquerones, a couple of Estrellas … We came back home so relaxed. And it wasn’t because of the market 😉
It would be massively awesome if somebody would open a quick snack & bira bar on the corner of the street. Promise we’ll be loyal customers!
We feel partially adopted. People know our names 🙂
The sellers are always friendly. You are allowed and even asked to choose your own stuff. Most of them will even treat you with some bonus item if you prove your loyalty and buy a few times from them.
They even call us by name.
Does this mean the island has partially adopted us?
