Mercatini...or what we call Italian old lady garage sales

So around Christmas time, early spring and Easter mercatini start poppin up all over the city. Mercatini is simply the Italian words for markets. But really you should picture maybe a side room in a church or an open area somehwere in the city that is filled with tables that are covered with every knick knack you can imagine- we're talking jewelry, dishes, clothes, old pictures, table cloths, toys,etc. It's really reminiscent of a garage sell but way better. Usually the tables are run by a group of older Italian ladies who've prety much just cleaned out their house of stuff from the last oh 70yrs or so and put it up for sell. The mercatini are almost always used to benefit the catholic mission of the church it's held in or a hospital project of some sort. You can most definitely get some cool stuff at these markets at rock bottom prices. My teammates and I are somewhat addicted to them. I had the pleasure of attending a sprign market today at a local church where some of the proceeds went to our project in Malawi, Africa. I tried really hard to resist this 5 piece old heavy painted metal set of pots-they were oh so fabulous. Teal on the outside with super cool retro pattern adn white on teh inside. But alas I resisted the 12 Euro purchase and ended up with a restaurant quality skillet for 3 euro and a plastic drip basket that makes 1 cup of american coffee. Not a bad day but a lot of fun talking to these older ladies hearing their life stories, where they got the items, and such. Next time I'll be sure to take pics so you all get the feel. Mostly I am excited because it's spring and Easter market season. Yeah!!