Tbilisi: Lots to See at the Dry Bridge Flea Market

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I packed an extra bag. A duffle of sorts that folds down to nothing, but is roomy enough to bring home souvenirs, Georgian originals and the bounty of all my holiday shopping.

Thus far into my Georgian adventure, the bag remains folded up in the corner of my suitcase. It looks sad and useless at this point.

That is the bad news.

The good news, my pocketbook has been unaffected by Georgian gift shops or boutiques.

I am not ready to wave the white flag on Georgian finds just yet, but at this point my hope is not high.

The souvenir shops are filled with the sort of kitsch that would please traveling Grandma’s and cruise ship travelers. The high end fashion boutiques are not abundant and I am certainly not within their target audience age range. As I observe the women’s fashion spotted on the streets, I concluded the Georgian women and this American have very different aesthetics. I am embarrassed to say, the outfit that most appealed to me was worn by the McDonald’s hostess (it was her uniform!)

However, one should never give up as shopping is such a cultural event whenever overseas travel is involved.

To flex my well developed shopping muscles, we ventured over to the Dry Bridge for the daily open air market. It is a place to buy artists’ wares, antiques, home decor and more Soviet-era memorabilia than my duffle bag could ever haul home.

The flea market, art fair feel is shockingly well-organized, visually appealing, spotless and designed for the orderly hawking of anything from original art pieces to vintage gas masks.

We wandered through the stalls, interacted with the merchants, discussed history with the antique dealers and were invited to have tea with some of the artists.

We purchased a few items and gathered a couple of holiday gifts, but ultimately the greatest take away on this shopping excursion were fun observations, happy memories and loads of photos.

I suppose, these things are the best souvenirs and much easier to pack anyway.



**For more stories and photos about our travels, please follow along on Facebook at Valeri Crenshaw and on Instagram at Valerispassport!***

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Comments

[Dancing Dave]

Do I or do I not?
I too have a tiny folded item that enlarges into a large lightweight bag for souvenirs. Perfect for table runners and bits of pieces from our travels. Always returns home fully packed!!! Those that make it are treasured memories or kitsch best discarded. And there are those (I recall a few) that I did not buy that are chances of a lifetime thus lost and in memories for years unable to rectify my regret. Many items one says I will get later in my trip...which thus become opportunity lost. Happy hunting...a unique treasure found is worth a thousand wishes!!!

[Nellie Christine Crenshaw]

I love these photos. This blog was in my SPAM or TRASH!!