One of the things I loved about the Netherlands were the flower markets. As well as the big weekly one held every Saturday in Utrecht — in a beautiful setting — there were also always a few stalls set up every day along one of the major canals in the city. The funny thing was that the flower vendors by the canal had big booming voices and sometimes sounded more like the Italian street vendors I’ve seen on TV. To be honest, a large man yelling in Dutch, even if it is about flowers, can be a bit intimidating! What wasn’t intimidating was the price of the flowers. You could get huge bouquets of tulips for just a few euros and the rest of the flowers and potted trees were equally affordable.
The other week, I was feeling a bit nostalgic for the Netherlands. While out with Charlie for his morning walk, we saw a few stalls/trucks set up at Piazza VIII Agosto. That’s not unusual, as there is a huge market held there every Friday and Saturday with row upon row of matching white tent stalls set up, filling the large square. However, this wasn’t a Friday or Saturday and the few trucks and displays weren’t of the usual clothing and household goods. They were flowers! I’d found a miniature flower market in Bologna!
Despite the smaller selection, there were still a variety of attractive flowers for planting or for simple decoration in a vase. There were even a few small potted trees. The prices didn’t look too bad, though maybe slightly more than in the Netherlands. They even had some tulips, though I didn’t see a price on those as Charlie and I got distracted when we met a lovely big dog and his friendly owner.
Perhaps it was part of the Mercato di Piazza San Francesco, which is where the usual plant and flower market is held on Tuesdays, though it looks like it transferred temporarily to Piazza VIII Agosto last year while some renovations are being done.
Flower Shop
Of course you don’t have to wait for a one-day market to buy flowers. There are plenty of regular flower shops within the city where you can buy flowers, arrangements, and even and laurel wreathes for your graduating student. After all, this is a university town!
If you want something in between your typical florist and the outdoor flower market, there’s always some lovely flower market to be found in one of the achingly picturesque streets in the Quadrilatero in the heart of the old city center. I think this one may be housed in a former goldsmiths guild. Look at all of those arches and vaulting!
Now that I know some spots to buy flowers, I really do need to remember to buy some flower vases. I wonder where I can find those?
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