The Market

The European bazaar is a time honored tradition. So for me, Sunday in Brussels is synonymous with the market. Every weekend hordes of salesmen descend on Gare de Midi, taking up a few hundred meters of cobblestone walkway to hock their wares, selling everything from clothing to food to toiletries.

I am no stranger to this scene. I’ve experienced markets in many cities—the flea market in Pickering, the gypsy market (with real gypsies) in Portugal on Wednesdays and I stumbled through Lille’s when I went, though it was substantially smaller than the others. But the Brussels market has a special place in my heart if for no other reason than because it’s so cheap.

It’s not that food is expensive in Brussels (though it is with the exchange rate), but it’s that they give you “European portions”: six apples, eight cups of yogurt, a single piece of chicken. The entire concept of buying in bulk is lost on Europeans. No wonder everyone is skinny here. A part of it is based on practically—why buy eight pieces of meat when you can only have one at a time? I understand this and I agree with you. But my compliant doesn’t stem from a desire to eat more, but from sheer laziness: smaller portions require more trips to the grocery store; at least once a week if not more. But in the market, they sell in bulk.


Indeed, the food area of the Sunday morning market is truly a sight to behold: merchants screaming prices at you as you walk buy, proffering their goods for your inspection. Each stall is piled high with food: watermelon, nectarines, plums, lettuce, leeks, cheeses, bread, whatever you want. But the one I go to is what my friend calls, “the great ski-ball alley of fruit.” There I can get things in bulk: 2 kg of nectarines or apples for €3; two giant sacs of fresh ripe strawberries for €1.50. Does it get much better? Yes, it does because it’s not just fresh fruit that I get at the market. I stock up. Cheese for lunch sandwiches, fillets of meat for dinner fresh from the butcher. And then there’s the guy that sells me 18 Capri Sun for €2 and 18 individually-wrapped and succulent mini croissants for €2.

The last time I went to market I bought the following: 2 kg of apples, 2 kg of nectarines, a cucumber, a green pepper, ¼ pound of green olives, 3 chicken breasts breast (that will make 6 meals), 2 sacs of 18 croissants, a box of 10 Capri Suns, and 200 g of Gouda sandwich cheese. It cost me €18. And I didn’t have to go to the grocery for two and a half weeks.



This is one thing I'll miss when I'm gone. But not the waking up early on Sundays