Salamanca Market

When I arrived in Tasmania last October the first thing that came to my mind was… Shopping! Although I must admit that I was a little in shock when I found out that there were no big shopping malls in Hobart, unlike Abu Dhabi and Dubai where we have the one of the biggest shopping malls in the world. Mmm… I guess I have to face it my shopping lifestyle might come to a halt.  So what’s the alternative? Well, good thing there’s the Salamanca Markets! 

Indeed the Salamanca Markets is infamous even on the other side of the world where I was. It can be comparable to the ones that we had in the Emirates they called “souqs” meaning “markets” in Arabic. Our first Saturday here in Tassie, my partner and I decided to go to the Salamanca. We took the bus from our suburb in Springfield and arrived in Hobart in less than 15mins. Wow! I could definitely enjoy the roads here!

We arrived in the Salamanca and I felt that vibe… if you know what I mean, the shopping vibe. I could say people here in Tassie were no different from the ones in Abu Dhabi or Dubai. They all want to have a good bargain and they love food. Yes! The smell of the sausage “barbie” was killing me and I have to take a bite. Yum, the level of spice and the mustard gave it a little bit of a kick. Sausage stalls were all over but I got the ones from the stall opposite of the soft drinks stall. Really good sausages! Apart from the sausages, there were stalls that offer espresso coffee, kebabs, Asian dishes like the potato spuds with a touch of Asian flavor, milk shakes, home made ice cream, pancakes, and of course one my favorites, the “chocolate fudge” stall and many others. There were also restaurants all over the place located in the sidewalk.

So we continued our window-shopping there were all sorts of stuff. Handicrafts, apparels, shoes, books, art crafts, plants and flowers, fruits and vegetables and so much more. I must say that we don’t have anything like it back in the Emirates, except for the Global village that happens every December but mostly china made products were on display. Unlike here in the Salamanca, I must commend the locals’ effort in selling Tassie-made products. Bravo! Let’s start with the crafts. Several stalls offer uniquely made crafts products, which range from pots, utensils, knitted products, other crafts for the homes, and I found one very unique stall that sells these hand made things, some sort of a futuristic feel… what do you reckon?

As we walked along the stalls, I noticed one more unique aspect of the Salamanca that I was kind of something new to my senses. The busking performances! Wow, being an enthusiast of musical performances, I was really surprised. Firstly, as you enter the Davey street entrance and walk along a little bit, there sits a guy playing one of the most phenomenal guitar music I’ve ever heard in my life. His name is Cary Lewincamp, simply beautiful music. Check him out on his official website: http://www.cary.com.au. I also enjoyed the other busking performances and noticed that Salamanca after all is the center for performing arts in Hobart. Well, that made sense! 

Well, I must say that I didn’t have enough time to experience all the stalls since most of them closed at 3pm. Oh crap! But overall I definitely enjoyed the short trip and ever since, Saturday became our Salamanca Market day!