Tag Archives: market

Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Spain, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Mercado de Navidad, Plaza Mayor

Image February 26, 2025 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

One of the great things about travel is that you get to enjoy being naive. No, really. When you go to new places, it is completely normal to not understand everything you see, every tradition, every experience, every norm. It happens in different ways, both major and minor. It happened on this late 2024 trip to parts of Germany, France, and Spain. We knew that we would visit German Christmas markets, but they we learned that Germany has no monopoly on these seasonal events, and they are popular everywhere.

The market in Madrid’s Plaza Mayor was one of the larger ones we encountered in that city. We intended to mostly avoid this tourist magnet, but we ended up there for several reasons after all. First, it seemed to us that we were seeing a lot of Spanish people there — not just international tourists. Second, it was quite impressive to see the place decked out in holiday lights.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” from Heyday Books, is available directly from G Dan Mitchell.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Spain, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Sunday Morning, El Rastro

Image February 24, 2025 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

El Rastro is the huge open air street market in Madrid’s barrio de Embajadores. It is held every Sunday morning and has been for many decades. I read that there can be up to 3500 vendor stalls! They spread across many streets in the area, and you can find almost every imaginable item for sale. At its peak, the streets are jam-packed with shoppers and sight-seers — so much so that it can be difficult to move.

When we visited we knew there was a “street market,” but we had no idea of what a big deal it is. We walked from where we were staying, and we first arrived at some stands in a small square and thought, “That’s it?” We saw more stalls across the street, and when we went to investigate we saw that they extended off into the distance. We plunged in and walked through a good portion of it.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Europe, Photographs: France, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Christmas Market, Montpellier, France

Image February 5, 2025 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Christmas market in Montpellier, France — “Christmas Market, Montpellier, France” — Throngs of people crowd the Christmas Market at Montpellier, France.

Today’s photo is a bit photo-journalistic, but sometimes that is appropriate for travel. We ended up at this Christmas market in Montpellier, France almost by accident. We knew there was a market, but we were not sure where it was located. We went on one of our morning “random walks,” heading toward the high point of the old section of the city, where we found a pond where an ancient aqueduct terminates. The market filled a large hilltop square between that and the upper end of the city’s main street.

We knew about German Christmas markets, and one of our goals during the first weeks of our trips was to visit them. We were less aware that these markets are actually all over Europe — we saw them in France and Spain during our trip. While the German markets seem to be best known, the other markets follow the same general theme — rows of booths selling food, drink, warm clothing items, Christmas decorations, and much more to throngs of holiday visitors.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Europe, Photographs: People, Photographs: Spain, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Street Vendor, Madrid

Image January 30, 2025 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Near the end of our December visit to Madrid we went on a long walk that took us to the famous El Rastro Sunday street/flea market in the Barrios de Embajadores area. From what I gather, this market has been going on for centuries. There is a small market square, but the main action takes place up and down nearby streets where scores of vendors are set up and thousands of shoppers completely fill the narrow streets.

If you like observing and photographing people and don’t mind working in close quarters, this event presents a plethora of visual opportunities. The market stalls are fascinating, as are the wildly diverse shoppers checking out them out. You can find almost anything here: clothes, toys, hats, cameras, phones, cookware, food, you name it. I photographed this vendor, sitting on a stool in an uncharacteristically minimalist “booth.”