A trip to the gypsy market...

During my in-laws' stay we visited the gypsy market in Cadiz, a first for us as well as them. We joined a group of people from the base and rode a bus to Cadiz, which was the best way to travel. The boys were in school, so it was just my in-laws, my hubby and me. I'd been to the gypsy market in Rota, but the one in Cadiz is probably five times larger.

The gypsy market is set up along the boardwalk next to the harbor. I loved seeing all the boats!


Booths stretched as far as the eye could see!


Our tour guide from the base gives us the lowdown on the gypsy market and advises us to watch our wallets and purses and keep them in front of us at all times.


The fabrics were very pretty and colorful.


Some booths had shoes piled high on tables like this one, and other booths had shoes hanging from poles or neatly stacked. I got tickled listening to the vendors yelling at shoppers to check out their merchandise.


There were scarves galore, in every color imaginable! These are very popular here in Spain.


Underwear anyone? We saw LOTS of unmentionables! In fact, we saw lots of the same kinds of things... underwear, clothing, shoes, jewelry, purses, scarves, fabric, towels, etc. Every tenth booth or so was like starting at the beginning with the same types of merchandise. Much of it was made in China too, just like in the States! Going to the gyspy market was reminiscent of going to most any flea market I've ever been to in the States, only flea markets sometimes have used items and there didn't appear to be any used items in the gypsy market.


People were virtually shoulder to shoulder. I could totally understand why our tour guide told us to be on our guard with our money. Pickpocketing could happen so quickly and easily in a place like this.


I really liked these purses. These seemed more unique in comparison to most of the others I saw that day.


This guy was selling snacks and drinks from a cart he pushed through the crowd.


Olives, garlic and spices were sold at several booths.


This was one of the larger clothing booths we saw... a double decker with clothes hanging above and below.


Aren't the baby dresses adorable? The pastels are so pretty!


Little girls dresses were in abundance. I didn't see lots of clothing for boys except for T-shirts and jeans. In general children here in Spain are almost always dressed up, unless they are at the beach.


See the tall guy in the middle of the photo? That's my very patient husband... waiting for me to finish snapping pictures so we can move on to the next booth of purses and scarves.


Oops... here are a few more of those unmentionables, but these are a little different that the previous ones I showed you.


My mother-in-law checks out the ribbon and lace.


Looking for a little bling? Gotcha covered!


My mother-in-law browses through the linens while my father-in-law... ahem... waits patiently.

We perused and browsed and ogled and touched and eventually ended up walking away from the gypsy market having purchased NOT.ONE.THING. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking we exercised great restraint, and I suppose we did. Looking back, I'm glad we didn't purchase anything because we remained in Cadiz and took a bus tour, and it would have been extremely painful to tote gypsy market treasures all over the city for the rest of the day.

Next... photos and commentary (Of course there will be commentary! Isn't there always commentary?) of our bus tour of Cadiz. I know you'll be waiting on pins and needles. Later...