Market in Funchal
Markets tend to be attractive sites as you can usually see a variety of goods and colours there, as well as people, whether they are sellers, buyers or just curious tourists. The city market in Funchal is no exception and if we were staying longer in the city, I’d have visited it many more times than just once.
I was mainly impressed by the central part on the ground floor, which is filled with fruits and vegetables of many kinds. They looked fresh and to my Czech eyes often exotic. As I always prefer choosing the pieces I would like to buy, I appreciated that you could have a closer look at everything displayed. Having that choice made shopping there feel all the more welcoming.
As you can see in the photos, the arrangement of the goods looked wonderful. I was enchanted by all the decorative baskets with attractively set up pyramids of fruits, but even the common crates filled with abundantly piled fruits and vegetables looked very nice.
There are also some stalls on the first floor though not that many, and what I liked most there was the view of the liveliness below — people passing one another, looking at what the stalls were offering, putting the selected pieces into plastic bags… All of it accompanied by the mix of voices and other sounds.
Behind this central part, there is a section where fish are brought and handled. This area looked a bit rough in comparison and there were not so many people, mainly the ones working with the fish. The smell was very strong there, one needs to get used to it.
I did not take any photo in that part but here are two mobile shots from a supermarket we frequented instead, where the fish counter had its own quieter version of the same atmosphere.
And then there is the third section directly by the entrance where you can buy various seeds and flowers. The women selling them were wearing traditional folk costumes and that looked beautiful. I was tempted to buy some bulbs for home but was afraid they would not last for long so I gave up on the idea. Maybe next time.
