Monastiraki market.Athens/Central market
 

We will be in Athens on a Sunday and I would like to hear from travelers who have been to this famous "flea" market at Monastiraki. What sort of things are good to focus on? Any favorite vendors? And how are the freestanding shops in the market vicinity? We also will visit the main central food market on a weekday and would like to hear from anyone who knows it and can offer tips on what to buy in the way of interesting foodstuffs and cooking equipment. Are there any market eating spots that we should put on our list?

The poet/shoemaker, Stavros Melissinos, at Odos Pandrossou 89, reputedly made sandals for Jacqueline Onassis, the Beatles, and R. Nureyev. The sandals are inexpensive; I bought a pair in 1997. That's a while ago, so I'm not sure he's still there.

I was disappointed to see how many stalls in the Flea Market and Plaka had been taken over by vendors selling the same old crap: postcards, t-shirts, cheap worry beads, punk-rock garb and flimsy gauzy clothing that won't make it past the first washing. It's like a disease that's spread throughout the country. I feel sorry for those vendors who are trying to uphold their level of quality in the face of so much junk.

I googled him, and you can now order sandals from his website. Born in 1929, so getting up there.
He's kind of an institution in the area, so, IMO, worth a stop in, even if you're not interested in buying shoes!

Ekscrunchy:

We were in Athens in June on a Sunday and found the Plaka shops to be filled with nothing but junk. I love to shop and wasn't even tempted to go into a
store. My husband was thrilled! I do remember seeing a few places with items that looked somewhat interesting but with the other touristy places everywhere it was a total turnoff. We didn't spend a dime in this area. Couldn't wait to get through it and the masses and return to our hotel. Athens is filled with many fabulous places to experience and we enjoyed our stay there and found some great restaurants but shopping was definitely not a high point of this part of our trip to Greece. Hope that you enjoy your stay in Greece. We also enjoyed Santorini and Hydra. Shopping in both places was much better.
AKNIC

Thanks so much! In which area of the city is Melissinos the sandal maker? (We are staying at Electra Palace Hotel)

Melissinos the sandal maker is active in his tiny shop just a few yards from the Monastiraki Place .

Plaka is NOT the flea market area.
The flea market or Yousouroum,is near Monastiraki on Platia Avyssinias .Sunday morning is the flea market day!

On your way to Melissinos (5 minutes from your hotel) have a Pita at Bairactaris and later an alfresco lunch just in the middle of the Avyssinias square and the antique shops, at Cafe Avyssinias, a delight!

I visited both the flea market and the central market on my trip to Athens in March. At the Sunday flea market there were lots of vendors in the area around Platea Avysinnias, as mentioned above, selling old furniture, prints, books, old copper, one store selling nothing but old radios, one vendor with musical instruments, all sorts of stuff. The list above just comes from the pictures I took; this was a very colorful scene.

The Central Market is also very colorful. The meat market is filled with butchers hawking every imaginable and unimaginable part of lambs, pigs, etc. The fish market is filled with, well, fish. Nothing I noticed that you would buy unless you had a kitchen to cook it in.

Make sure you tour the streets across Athinas from the market buildings. This is where the produce market is held and where there were side streets with shops selling olives, spices, halvah, pastries, etc. Also cages of live poultry and rabbits.

In the meat market building there is a place called Stoa Athanaton where you can go to hear live rembetika music. I believe there are shows in the afternoon and at night. We went to a (late!) night show and it was a unique experience. We were the only people who were not speaking Greek. Food is served while the musicians play. You have to buy a drink, at least we were told we had to order a bottle of wine, which was expensive, but I saw it as the price of the entertainment.

There was a changing roster of soloists throughout the night. People danced on the small dance floor near the stage, alone, in couples, or in groups. A girl walked around with flowers to throw at the dancers. When we went, reservations were essential. Might be less so during the day, but I'd check to make sure.

Hi

The Greeks make fantastic jewellery. Unfortunately I couldn't afford anything over 60E. After 3 weeks of travels in Greece scouring many jewellers for an inexpensive but quality memento I found one. It was Lapis Fine Jewels located in the Plaka. Address is Pandrossou 8. TEL 32.54.370. It was a beautiful men's silver ring for about 48E. I was really thrilled to see the spiral motif on my ring featured on the swimming pool used for the Olympics (must be an ancient symbol).

See ya

Thanks so much, all, for the info. If anyone has any more to add about shopping in Athens, please feel free to post here! We are generally interested in old, unusual things; household items; cooking items; shoes; cotton clothing; and food to bring home (will be stopping off in Athens again en route back home to the States after visiting Santorini and Istanbul.) As for jewelry, I might check out the gold if the prices are right...wonder if there is much interesting sterling silver there as well (?) Will I be better off shopping for jewelry and clothing in Santorini or Athens?

ttt

Hi

Definitely Athens for clothes and jewellery. Re your query about silver jewellery - it was really beautiful in Greece. I'm not into jewellery but couldn't help but admire their craftmanship. Santorini and Mykonos are ridiculously overpriced, no doubt for the tourists. I would avoid buying there unless you knew what you were truly getting. For eg. I saw a shirt for 40E in Athens that I changed my mind about buying. Later I saw exactly the same shirt in Mykonos for 90E!

Hope this helps

It does help, very much. Thanks!

I suggest you focus on the dog manure as you walk.Athens seems to have many abandoned dogs.