User blog comment:Horton11/The Half Brunanter Blog/@comment-1992729-20150127214839

NAVIGATING THE SOUK

This is one of those places where the tourists and locals really mingle. The old market, in the Arabian Quarter is called a souk, but is really a mix of flea, vegetable and antiquities market, combining the best of east and west. You'll find anything from fresh fruits, vintage records and kitschy and unnecessary oddities which the stall owner promotes like a fine gem.

Of course the mother-in-law does not have such "fond" memories, she only really recalls the pickpockets, the haggling owners and the crappy junk being sold. If it were up to her she'd call in the military to go with us, but it doesn't matter. Silvia's father, always the laid-back type says "it's perfectly safe, nothing will ever happen". All this is a myth to scare off tourists, he asserts.

We go but there isn't much this Sunday. Rain has kept many vendors away, despite the market having a roof. We find the hot peppers that Silvia came to find, and she spends half an hour bargaining with the man for a 1 euro discount. Later on we're practically chased down by a man selling the finest Italian kitchen pots, which we're sure are fallen off a truck and not too sure they're actually Italian.

We were going to have coffee but more rain ended our plans early.