Irene Village Market

Here in Jozi places close early. The only place that stays open later is the movies. While I'm all over that I miss evenings on the patio, live bands and good restaurant venues. Needless to say you gotta do your exploring in the morning, afternoon and weekends...

If you happen to find yourself in Johannesburg, SA, be sure to make your way out to the Irene Market. It's a blasty blast!




Food, crafts, antiques, food, jewelry, food, Irene Market has it all. Did I mention food? Some things seem pretty reasonable. Then there's some things that aren't reasonable by any means, aka I'm an American and they know it so they ask for a higher price. No worries friends. Two things, 1) I'm cheap and 2) I'm getting good at bargaining.

I did get this really sweet poncho imported from Nepal for $43 usd. I know that seems like a splurge, and it felt like a splurge at the moment, but winter found it's way into Jozi and it's cold all the day long. I saw the poncho and needed it immediately.

Miscellaneous things I saw:
-muscular baker men serving gourmet muffins and bread under the pseudonym "Baker Boys"
-a dog wearing overalls
-a camel try to throw a lady off it's back (I was going to ride that camel till I saw that happen...)
-a man wearing some rad jeans with flower patches (see below)

 

Pretty pleased with my venture to Irene, I left with a few fun items and a belly full of Pumpkin Fritters. Delightful!

These kind of markets aren't open all the time, but when they are, they're so worth going to! It's a nice break away from the sometimes-dangerous atmosphere that seems to linger amongst most South Africans. It's a breath of fresh air.

Yes, the city has a lot of crime and there's electric fences, barbed wire and not so good people everywhere, but there's also a lot of good people and a beautiful culture(s) beyond all that stuff. And I've found that I like to see the good because it always outweighs the bad.