A Getaway to the City Center and the Saturday Flea Market - Vienna

Hello dear Hivers!

This had been my first visit this year to the most popular flea market in the city...the Saturday Flea Market. I left the house after breakfast at around 8:30 AM last Saturday... drove to the Mall to park the car and went to the direction of the city via the U1 underground train connecting U4 to Kettenbrückengasse Station to reach the market place. It should take me from the Mall around 12 minutes to reach the market place.

The City Center Walk...

When I arrived at the station, the U4 underground train was cut off and had been on a halt because there was a fire 2 stations before us. So there was no way for me to wait further but to take the U1 to Stephansplatz ( city center) and walk to the next station of U4 which is about 500 meters away.

I had nostalgic moments when passing the street of Kärntner Strasse. I worked here before and I had always enjoyed the lunch breaks since the office was just around the corner. There were many restaurants and bistros here and there, supermarkets, shops, museums, State Opera, churches. In short, everything is here since this is the heart of the city.

It was still early and not so many people were on the street since the shops were still closed. Notice the cleanliness of the streets, so it's wonderful to roam around. Even tourists here would be embarrassed to throw anything on the floor. There are garbage bins as well as places for cigarette butts everywhere.

I walked to the U4 station at Karlsplatz and found out that the U4 train resumed operation. It's just one station to reach the flea market.

On the top right is the Burger King signboard, its street named Annagasse is where my former office was located

Finally at the Flea Market

The Saturday flea market at the Ketternbrückengasse Station has long been a Viennese institution that started in the late 70s. It all began as an Art and Antique Market from its original place in Am Hof and then moved to the Naschmarkt area. Over the years, it became bigger and bigger. It was supposed to be an open air market for Arts and Antiques. However, as the years went-by, many visitors became more and more in numbers so that the professional art dealers and the non-pro dealers offered their wares side by side. For as long as the fee for a stall is paid , one slot is reserved for the dealer.

Remember the post I made about the Naschmarkt?... The location of the Flea Market is just opposite Fresh Market and Food Mile at exactly the parking lot that is used by employees of the nearby offices and market visitors alike every Mon-thru Friday. On Saturdays, the flea market is buzzling with hundreds and hundreds of people, locals and tourists who are visiting to try their luck at discovering a treasure.

I found this huge ceramic mug in red which I intend to use as a flower vase for my wildflower arrangements.

The front of the mug

Some locals scour the market as a hobby, some come in groups and compare their "trophies" of the day with each other. Most of them are seniors and of retired age. It's fun to discover something you like, maybe add to a growing collection and maybe wonder what the acquired object ´s function is for.

I also discovered this clay candle holder decorated with florals, I love the color green and the green candle I have at home just fitted to its hole size.

It's discovering a special thing that gives the people the motivation to come, for the tourists, it's the souvenir they´d be bringing home, of finding some art pieces that could be a master´s painting or sculpture and so on.

Others come to look for old copper etchings, WWII souvenirs, ceramic plates, glasses and whatchamacallits...everything is possible! A famous German actor found out that the carpet he got from this market was valuable. You might discover old sketches in one of the banana boxes which eventually would turn out to be from Renoir or Michelangelo.... Who knows!

This is a specialized stall for vintage clothing as well as household linens painstakingly embroidered by women in the Pre WWII era mostly in German script.

As for myself, I have stopped collecting for lack of space since relocating to a small flat. Some of our household things are still in unopened boxes in the cellar of the complex. My visit here was just for fun and I really enjoyed seeing that this place is alive again after 2 years of pandemic.

The backdrop of the whole market place is an array of old buildings built by famous Austrian architects centuries before. So it is quite an experience to be here as if you were also present during the time the Habsburg ruled almost the whole of Europe.

If you are planning to come to Vienna, do not forget to include this in your itinerary. You will surely find something to bring back home. You have to haggle for the price you want to pay for an object, some of the dealers are flexible.

I hope I brought you an insight of the largest flea market in Vienna and do hope you enjoyed the images. Until then, I`ll see you around!

[//]:# (!pinmapple 47.521750 lat 15.545337 long Flea Market, Naschmarkt, Vienna d3scr)

GIF by @gremayo

All images are owned by the author, @mers